7 Swordsmen from the Leaf
by zorozangetsu688
Summary: Naruto and the others are taken from Konoha to be trained as the next generation of The 7 Swordsmen of the Mist village. Follow their asventures as the Mist rises to the top and crushes the leaf. Includes Zabuza/Mei, Mangetsu/Ameyuri, Naruto/harem
1. Chapter 1: Branching Out

The 7 swordsmen of the Leaf

one of my favorite elements from the Naruto series was the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist. These guys were so badass! But you only saw like two of them until the last generation got edo-tenseied. So i thought id take a break from my naruto-Sekirei story and try this.

Basically, the seven swordsmen are looking for protégés to replace them in the future. They can't find any potential recruits in the mist, so they branch out. And where else to look than the strongest ninja village at the time. The hidden leaf.

Start

'Nothing! Not a single decent recruit to be found. Dammit! At this rate, ill never find a proper student.' These were the thoughts of Zabuza Momochi, one of the infamous seven swordsmen of the mist. Zabuza was a tall man with black spiky hair, a mist village forehead protector hung sideways on his head, and bandages wrapped around his mouth.

As he made his way through the streets of his home, the village hidden in the mist, people avoided him as much as possible. Normally Zabuza was seen as one of the more sane and approachable of the seven swordsmen. But right now, this man looked like he was on a warpath. He growled under his breath, just now noticing all the villagers were scarred by how he was acting. He sighed, calming himself down and walked on. He had a meeting to get to anyway.

Their Mizukage had noticed that some of their members were getting on in years. Specifically Jinpachi and Jinin. They were sent on a mission to kill a high standing Konoha ninja that had been rising through the ranks. It seemed best to kill him off before another yellow flash was born. They came back alive, but barely. By their report the boy was very strong, but they still managed to 'disarm' the boy as it were.

The Mizukage had made an order for each of the seven swordsmen to find a student to train in the event of their death. Zabuza had just come from the academy looking for someone to train, but no luck.

He had arrived at wall of deep mist, so thick that even a swing with his Kibikiribocho wouldn't disperse it. He made a hand sign and charged a high-level of chakra and concentrated it into the mist. The wall of mist divided and he walked through, head held high. The wall closed as soon as he was through, snapping shut behind Zabuza.

He came to stop in a clearing in a forest near the village of the border. As soon as he walked through, a kunai whizzed by his head and hit the tree behind him. A wire attached to the kunai was retracted, making it return to the thrower. An extremely tall and lanky man with long, shaggy, straw-colored blond hair. He wore an anbu mask with the mist symbol etched in the forehead, slits for eyes and a green triangle at the mouth. His neck and collarbone were covered by bandages.

"Zabuza, how nice of you to come to one of our meetings for one." Was the lanky man's sarcastic remark to Zabuza.

"Kushimaru, throw another kunai at me again and ill tie you up with your own thread." To make his point, Zabuza took hold of his sword's handle threateningly.

The man identified as Kushimaru reached behind him to grab his own sword, but instead put his hands up defensively.

"Relax. I just need someone to fight with, since Jinpachi is still in the hospital." Zabuza took the excuse and relaxed. But a half-second later, threw a kunai to his right.

"Do any of you guys know how to say hello, or do you just get used to throwing knives at people." A voice rang through the shadows of the trees, stepping foreword to reveal himself.

It was a young teenager with light-colored hair, almost white. He had on a mist forehead protector and bandages around his neck. He was grinning at the two older men, showing off his fanged teeth; a shared trait of the seven swordsmen, inherited by their bond with their blades.

Zabuza and Kushimaru glared at young man. The boy was overly cocky due to the fact that he was the youngest ninja in the hidden mist to be seven swordsmen.

"Hello Mangetsu, how nice to see you" was the sarcastic reply of Kushimaru.

Mangetsu sighed in defeat and leaned against a tree. He had just wanted to lighten the mood.

"Are you fuck-tards just gonna stand around arguing, or are we going to get down to business." Another of their members had arrived in the clearing. A short woman with long, red hair, and together with a forehead protector, she also wore a simple cloth around her head, distinctively tied at both sides so as the ends of the material protrude upwards, while the remainder of hair is allowed to flow downwards. And like mangetsu she had a mist forehead protector and sharpened teeth.

"Ameyuri-chan, so nice to see you again. But you should really watch your language, it so vulgar for such a pretty face." Mangetsu used every chance he could get to flirt with the only female member of their group.

"S-shut up! And ill curse as much as i want, got that!" She glared at the boy threateningly, her face beat-red from the comment.

"Would you two be quiet? Besides, we can't start without our 'leader'." Zabuza used the word loosely, having no loyalty to the man reputed to be the strongest of them all.

"Where is Kisame-sama anyway, he's usually never late." Asked a curious Mangetsu, putting a finger to his chin in question.

'Kiss-ass!' Was the simultaneous thought of Kushimaru and Ameyuri, annoyed that Mangestu never showed any of them that kind of respect.

"He is when he has a prior engagement." A man appeared from the tree line, landing in the center of the clearing. He was a very large man, even taller than Zabuza. He had a shark-like appearance, complete with pale-blue skin and had small, round, white eyes, and gill-like facial markings under his eyes. He had dark blue hair, spiked upward in the shape of a fin and a mist forehead protector. He grinned at the other members of the 7 swordsmen, showing off his sharpened teeth.

"Sorry I'm late. Now then, let's get down to business. Has anyone found a student to teach?" He looked to the small group, awaiting an answer.

"Nope" "Nada" "nothing" "zip" these were the unanimous replies from the four other swordsmen.

"Me neither" Kisame sighed depressed and agitated at the news. It was most likely the same result with Jinpachi and Jinin. Zabuza decided to comment on the topic.

"These ninja are all too soft, too weak. This village has gotten lazy after the war, just like Konoha. We were all raised in war-time, even Mangetsu. It's why we were able to become what we are."

"Good point, but it's not like we can just start another war. And I wouldn't go trashing Konoha either. After all it was one of their ninja that took down two of our guys." Mangetsu commented, commending the battle capabilities of the ninja that hospitalized Jinin and Jinpachi.

Just then, Zabuza's eyes widened as he got an idea. It was stupid, dangerous, and in all possibilities could probably cause another war.

"If the Konoha ninja are so powerful, maybe we should take a note from them. Or just take them." The other's eyes widened in shock at what he was implying.

"Are you nuts?! We can't just take shinobi off the streets, it could cause a war." Reasoned Ameyuri.

"Who says they have to be shinobi?" Questioned Kisame ominously as he grinned at Zabuza. "You said it yourself Zabuza. This generation has no knowledge of the hell we went through. So i say we take some children, maybe even infants, and -" he paused for Zabuza.

"Make their lives hell. We start from scratch, pick up some brats that no one will miss. The village will just think it was a kidnapping." Although they couldn't see it, Zabuza was grinning just as wide as Zabuza as they silently agreed on the plan.

"But isn't this going against tradition. The seven swordsmen of the mist have always been 'from' the mist." Questioned Mangetsu, concerned with this plan.

"It doesn't matter where there from, as long as they're trained in the ways of the mist, who cares." Replied Kushimaru, implying that he agreed with the idea.

"That's three, how about you two. We only need four votes, then it's decided." Kisame looked to Mangetsu and Ameyuri, awaiting their answer. Even if they both said no, he just needed an answer from Jinin or Jinpachi to make it final.

"I'm in" "what?!" Ameyuri gave an affirmative nod, while Mangetsu just looked at her dumbstruck. He would have never thought that the short swordswomen would go along with something like this.

Mangetsu hanged his head in defeat and gave a weak thumbs up. "What the hell, let's do this. But what about Jinpachi and Jinin, they're both still in recovery." He asked worried.

"I can probably pick up a kid for Jinpachi. I've known the guy longer than you guys have." Kushimaru volunteered, followed by Zabuza.

"Jinin and I worked on a few missions together; I think I know him well enough. Ill pick up his slack."  
"Even so, someone should tell the old geezers. Who want's to volunteer. Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not-dammit!" Just a second too late. Too bad for Mangetsu, who still wasn't used to the selection process the swordsmen used.

"Good luck, you're gonna need it." Kushimaru patted his shoulder and headed home to pack. The rest soon followed, leaving the aggravated Mangetsu behind in their dust.

"Aw man!"

-

They left at dusk, not wanting to be seen by their fellow ninja. The seven-sorry, five swordsmen were jumping from branch to branch, heading for the village hidden in the leaves. The village that had achieved the most advantages from the last great ninja war. Their plan was simple; get in, steal a kid for each of them, and get out without being noticed.

Mangetsu's conversation had not gone well. The two elder members were pissed for being left out of the meeting, but still acquiesced with the plan. Jinpachi wanted a child that liked fireworks, a good sign of a potential user of the Shibuki (Splash). Jinin wanted a strong boy, someone with who could wield the full-offensive power of Kabutowari (helmet splitter). Ameyuri was a bit pissed at that, remembering how sexist Jinin was, still stuck in the old ways.

They arrived at the village gates, hiding in the shadows of the trees just beyond. Kisame gave the signal and they each used the signature jutsu of the seven swordsmen, the silent killing technique.

"Hey, were did all this mist come from?" Asked Izumo. He and Kotetsu, like usual, were stationed at gate duty. Again.

"Don't know...yawn...don't care" answered Kotetsu, taking a deep yawn before deciding for a quick nap.

"Oh well, I guess it's nothing." He turned his attention away from the mist and picked up on where he left off on his make-out paradise book.

The five made their way through the gates, navigating through the mist effortlessly. They made their way to the tallest building, to get a better look at the village. They decided to split up and look for the closest orphanage.

Zabuza headed west, jumping from roof to roof. He searched left and right for sn orphanage, until he heard a sound. It was barking, lots of barking and howls. He headed to the direction of the noise. if he could cloud that area with his mist, it would block out those mutt's senses and they wouldn't have anything to bark at. He arrived at the top of a large, wide-spread compound and activating his jutsu.

The barking soon died down and he sighed in relief. But he heard another sound, a child crying out in the night. He jumped down to a nearby window and crouched to reduce visibility. He saw a room fit for an infant. A crib in the center, where the crying was crying from.

The child cried for a while longer till the mother came into the room. A woman with wild brown hair and red marks on her cheeks kneeled down to the crib and picked the child from the crib. She calmed the child with a soothing song, begging for him to calm down and go to sleep. After He finally went to sleep in her arms, she sighed in relief. She put the child back in the crib and walked quietly out of the room as to not wake him again.

Zabuza was trying to remember why those symbols on the mother's cheeks reminded him of something. Then it struck him. The Inuzuka, one of the oldest clans in the leaf village. He didn't know much about them other than the fact that they were proficient in using nin-dogs and were loyal to the end. Zabuza treasured loyalty above all else, maybe an Inuzuka could fill his spot.

He slipped through the window, being as quiet as possible as to not wake the child again. He snuck up to the side of the crib to get a good look at him. It was a baby boy with spiky brown hair like the mother and had the same red-fang tattoos on his cheeks. He took a small handful of a sleeping powder they had brought to knock out their targets. The powder caused the boy to open his eyes for a few seconds, sniffing the strange smell, and then quickly falling asleep.

Zabuza picked up the child carefully, and exited through the window victorious in his mission.

-

Mangetsu headed out towards the forest, taking an opportunity to procrastinate a little and check out the village. He heard a clopping sound and turned to the noise, kunai in hand. He relaxed when he saw it was just a dear...dear?

He never knew Konoha had this kind of wildlife. He approached the animal slowly, so it wouldn't run away. The animal tensed but relaxed after Mangetsu put his Kunai away. He put his hands on the animal, petting its snout staring at the creature in curiosity.

A snap echoed through the small forest, alerting the deer and making it run off. Mangetsu did the same, afraid he might have let his guard down. He saw a man with a scarred face and black hair tied into a spiked pony tail, like a pineapple. The man looked around a bit, then sighed tiredly and started heading back the way he came.

Mangetsu decided to follow him, to see if he could find some houses out in the woods. He followed the man to a medium sized complex with a few stables containing some more deer, already asleep. This was probably a ranch to raise deer and such.

Once the man was inside, Mangetsu looked for the closest window to see inside. He found a room with a crib, obviously a child's room by the looks of it. He started hearing sound from the next room over. The man he followed was fighting with someone, a woman. It sounded like a old married couple bickering over something stupid.

Mangetsu thought that it would be easier to simply grab the child in front of him while the parent's were distracted. He was conflicted with taking a child away from his parent, but his laziness out won his morality. Being in the mist, it get's easier to make emotional decisions like that.

The young swordsmen quickly and quietly stepped into dark room. He grabbed the child quickly and ran out before the parents stopped fighting. He quickly remembered that he forgot to use the sleeping powder. Cursing in his mind, he grabbed the bag of powder and looked down to the child he grabbed. He was still sound asleep, not a care in the world. Mangetsu grinned at the small child. 'Guess i don't have to use the powder after all, but then again...' He used the powder anyway, just to be safe, and headed back to where they scoped out the village.

-

'Orphanage, orphanage. Where's the god damn orphanage?!' Kushimaru searched frantically through the village, getting agitated because of his fruitless search. He stopped to catch his breath and take a look at his surroundings. It was a basic neighborhood with standard housing and shops. He heard the faint sound of an infant crying. He paced thinking on where to go, trying to block the sound out of his head. After a few minutes, the crying just got louder and louder until he couldn't take it anymore.

He jumped to the source of the sound, which was the house across from the roof he was on. He found the crying child in the upstairs room, a pink frilly room with overstuffed toys and wooden playthings. He picked the lock on the window and entered swiftly. We wasn't really worried about anyone hearing him. He approached the crib and made shushing sounds at the pink haired baby, only making it cry louder. 'God dammit! Come on Kushimaru, think! Think you idiot!' He nearly ripped his hair out thinking of a way to calm her down. He remembered when he was a kid, he saw women at the park that would calm down crying children by holding them and making calming noises or singing.

The thin swordsmen shrugged and figured it was the best thing he could come up with. He lifted the small child from the crib and held it closely. The infant stopped crying at him for a few seconds and just stared at him curiously. Kushimaru was a bit relieved she wasn't freaked out by his mask, it scarred most people. She reached a hand up to his shaggy hair and grabbed a handful. Kushimaru stumbled when she pulled on it and started giggling. He pulled his hair from her grip, only upsetting her and making her cry again. He sighed and went over to a chair near the crib. He sat down and started singing the only song that came to mind. It was the song his caretaker sung to him and the others at the orphanage.

Thankfully the song calmed her down enough that she went back to sleep. Kushimaru sighed in relief and went to put the child back. He stopped mid-way, an odd feeling coming over him. He looked to the pink-haired child, sleeping peacefully. He wanted to take this child for his student; he felt it in his gut. No! What was he thinking? This child was too soft, too weak. But she was unwonted, like him. All those screams in a big house and no one to answer. He sighed in defeat and spread the sleeping powder over the child.

He was gonna get an earful from Jinpachi, that's for sure. The thin swordsmen headed out, the child in tow.

-

'God, why did I agree to this? If i had just said no, I could be home in bed' Ameyuri thought glumly. She was jumping through the rooftops, looking all over the area for the stupid orphanage. She noticed someone else on the move, maybe it was one of her partners.

She headed for where she saw the person, but quickly realized it wasn't one of her team. It was a cloud ninja, she couldn't make him out in the darkness, but his flank jacket definitely gave it away. He was carrying something in a large bag, which was moving and twitching something was trying to fight its way through the material.

Just then she got an idea. If this guy was found dead, they'd assume that Cloud was responsible for the children they were taking. It was perfect.

She was easily faster than him, so she quickly circled around the cloud ninja and faced him with a crooked, fanged smile. The man was startled by her sudden appearance, drawing a kunai in defense.

"What's a mist ninja doing here?" He quickly new who she was just by her clothes.

"I could ask you the same" she drew out her swords, kiba (fangs) which soon came to life with lightning. The swords terrified the man as he quickly realized who she was.

"W-wait, please. I have nothing against you, why are you attacking me." He dropped the sack and backed up from the short woman, putting his hands up defensively.

Ameyuri just grinned at how weak the man was acting. "Sorry, you just happen to be at the wrong place at the right time" she charged him, disappearing in a surge of electricity.

The man looked left and right to try and find her and block her blow. But it was too late; he saw her land behind him, the static from her swords fading. His torso erupted in blood a second later, collapsing dead on the spot.

She was walking away when she heard a sound coming from a bag the cloud ninja dropped. She went towards it to investigate and opened the sack to see what he had stolen. It was a baby, with black hair and pristine white eyes. It was crying loudly, tears coming down its face. Ameyuri didn't want to be caught because of the child, so she quickly picked it up and attempted to calm it down.

"Shh, Shh. It's alright. No mean cloud ninja is gonna hurt you." She held the small child closely, rocking it to sleep. She was heading back to where the cloud ninja came from, planning to return the baby, but stopped when she quickly realized something. If she was seen, she'd get the blame instead of the cloud ninja like she had planned. She sighed and looked down to the sleeping infant in her arms. She smiled gently at the child, and made her decision.

She used some of the sleeping powder supplied to her and quickly ran away when she heard a search party approaching her. Before she was out of sight, she quickly made a water clone of the baby. It would last until the morning and no one would be the wiser.

Ameyuri left the clone near the sack and ran out of there as fast as her legs could take her. Her prized clutched tightly to her chest.

-

Kisame was the first one to actually find the orphanage. He arrived on the roof quietly, chuckling to himself in self-satisfaction. He made his way inside, opening the lock with ease. He walked through the creaking building, sticking to the shadows to avoid the caretaker. He soon found a door to the left and creaked it open to peak inside. The room held several small beds, which were occupied by the young orphans. Kisame looked over the bunch, but decided it would be better to take someone younger and train them from scratch.

He moved on through the building, checking room to room for potential. He finally found the room that housed the infant orphans, those abandoned at the very beginning of their lives. He also saw that two of his cohorts had managed to locate the area before him, deflating his ego a bit.

"Finally decide to join us, 'leader'" asked Kushimaru sarcastically. Kisame growled at the masked man, but stopped when he noticed the bundle in his hands. The same with Zabuza, both had already chosen their disciples.

"I see you two have been busy; I guess it's my turn now." He walked around the room looking at each of the infants, scanning for anything that would give him interest. Unfortunately, he saw nothing. Kisame sighed in exasperation and sat down in a nearby rocking-chair.

Kushimaru and Zabuza took this opportunity to look for disciples for Jinpachi and Jinin. Zabuza went first, he held a finger to each child and tested their strength. Even if it was only slightly stronger than the other children, it proved a great potential for superior strength. He finally found a child that had a much stronger grip than any of the others, but he was a bit odd. The infant had black hair and ridiculously large eyebrows. Jinin just said he needed someone strong, so he probably wouldn't care about the kid's appearance...probably. he sprayed the sleeping powder on the infant and picked him up, trying to steady both him and Zabuza's own choice in his arms.

Kushimaru was up next. He put a silencing seal on the wall, knowing that what he would do next would cause a lot of noise. He threw a small explosive tag into the air, and channeled barely a fraction of chakra into it. Instead of the large 'boom!' That the tags were known for, it created sparks in the air. It scared the hell out of the children, who all started screaming bloody murder; well except their own, they were still knocked out from the sleeping powder. Kushimaru looked left and right for any kids that weren't scared of the small fireworks display, but no hope. That is until he heard a small giggle. He followed the noise to an infant, laughing at the sparks and trying to reach for them. She had light brown hair and kept repeating "boom", probably a bit older than the others in the room. He used the sleeping powder and He picked her up. Then, like Zabuza, tried to balance the two babies in his arms.

The two nodded to each other in confirmation that they were both done. They turned to were Kisame was sitting, but found him missing. There was a door near the back that had been left open, probably where he had went. They went to the back door to see where their fellow swordsman was and opened the door all the way.

What they saw was Kisame in the middle of an empty room, save an old and broken crib. Oh! And the ten dead anbu on the ground. They approached the man to ask what happened, when they noticed that he was holding something. It was a blond child with strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks. Kisame held the child close, grinning like a shark.

"Why do you think they left this child all alone, away from the others? And why would he need to be guarded by anbu." Kisame asked the questions ominously, looking to Zabuza and Kushimaru who just stared at the man uneasily. It was a bit odd though, why was this child separated from the others and why the anbu here were. This child must have been either extremely dangerous, or very important to the village. Either way it was obvious that Kisame had made his choice. And it scarred the two other swordsmen.

"Well...what are two waiting for? Let's find the others and leave." He turned to leave and Zabuza and Kushimaru followed, hesitantly.

"What about Ameyuri and Mangetsu? We can't be sure that they already found children." Asked Zabuza

"So nice to know that you care Zabuza-san, but where fine. Thanks for asking" Mangetsu appeared beside them along with Ameyuri, both carrying bundles most likely the children.

"Good, then we can leave" said Kushimaru impatiently, increasing his speed to get out of the village as fast as he could. The others followed suit, ready to leave and not push their luck.

-

The swordsmen had arrived at their home village by morning, ready to take a rest. Unfortunately, as soon as they crossed the gate they were surrounded by Mist anbu.

None of the swordsmen moved. They could easily take out the anbu, but the chance that the children they were carrying could get hurt was too great.

"What do you want?" Asked Kisame, a bit ticked off.

The anbu were all barely standing. They knew that these people were potentially the strongest in the village. It would only take about four of them to take out their kage. The leader approached them on shaky legs, stating their purpose.

"Ahem. Kisame, you and the other swordsmen are to come with us. The Mizukage wishes to speak with you."

'Fuck!' Was the thought of the five swordsmen. Jinin or Jinpachi must have told him about their plan. Reluctantly, they followed the anbu to the tall tower in the center of the village that was the Mizukage's place of business.

They arrived at the medium sized office, face to face with the Kage of their village. Sitting across from them was what appeared to be a young boy with straw-colored hair, pink pupil less eyes, and a stitch-like scar running down his left eye down to his cheek. Although the Kage looked like a child, he was in fact as old as Zabuza. He was sitting at the large desk, hands folded and staring at the group blankly. He gave a signal for the anbu to leave, and they followed suit.

"Yagura, nice to see you again buddy. Don't see ya much since your 'promotion'." Zabuza and the now named Yagura were old friends back in the academy, but their friendship fell when Yagura was appointed to the position of Mizukage.

"This is not a social visit! Do you know how many laws you violated when you pulled this stunt? I wouldn't be surprised if Konoha didn't call for your heads tomorrow. And I'm not so sure i wouldn't disagree with the idea." He glared at the group with malice that surprised Zabuza. His friend had never acted so viscous to him or anyone.

"We had good reason Mizukage-sama!" Kisame interjected, bowing on one knee. Normally he would be the last to show respect to someone, but in times like these you needed to kiss ass.

"And what, pray tell, was that reason Kisame?" The small kage crossed his arms, looking at the man skeptically.

"You asked us several weeks ago to look for students, apprentices to train to replace us in the future. Me and my fellow swordsmen have searched high and low but have found no potential that is worthy enough to fill the title of a seven swordsmen of the mist. It seemed logical that since it was Konoha ninja that hurt our own, we use that power to take them down a few notches." He grinned at the short kage viscously.

Yagura put a finger to his chin thinking it over. It has been noticed that the shinobi from Konoha have a great history of prodigies. The fourth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, and the man that injured two of his swordsmen, Itachi Uchiha. All were children from the village that had rised through the ranks at an accelerated rank when they were young. Plus, it would deal a moral blow to Konoha, seeing how he would use the leaf's own against it.

"Very well. I will agree with this plan for now. I want each of you to hand over the children you took to the hospital for proper inspection and care. You are dismissed." He turned his rotating chair away from the five, done with the conversation.

The five swordsmen nodded and bowed in thanks. Medical ninja came into the room to take the children like the Mizukage had asked of them. The five handed over the seven infants; Kushimaru, Ameyuri, and Kisame a bit more reluctant than the others.

They all left through the large door, each about to head to their own home. Unfortunately, someone was standing in their way. It was a beautiful woman with ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin. She was tapping her foot impatiently looking directly at Zabuza.

"Um, M-mei. What are you doing here?" Zabuza asked nervously. The others chuckled at his misfortune. It was well known that Zabuza and Mei were a couple, and the other swordsmen constantly gave him strife for how whipped he was.

"Yagura called me. He told me about your little 'mission'." She hissed, not pleased with the fact that Zabuza had left to do something so stupid and reckless without notifying her at least. Steam started coming out of her mouth, alerting the swordsmen that her bloodline limit was acting up. They quickly left the two lovers to their quarrel, Kushimaru adding insult to injury by giving him a pat on the shoulder and a quick 'good luck'. Seven swordsmen or not, you never want to face a pissed-off Kunoichi.

As Zabuza backed up to the door where he left Yagura's office, trying to calm down his girlfriend before she accidentally killed him; he turned to the side to see Yagura smirk at him amused. 'That little punk. Ill make him pay for this...that is if I live through this' he thought glumly, thinking of how he would get out of this.

"Zabuza!"

"Ah!" He let out a girlish squeak and ran as fast as his feet could carry him. Revenge be damned, he just wanted to live to see tomorrow.

End

Just came up with this idea. I really love the concept of the seven swordsmen, so i thought i could do a small tribute to them. I got the new naruto ninja storm, and got pissed when i found out you couldn't play as them...Sigh.

Anyway, please review!

P.S. - does anyone know how to pronounce Jinin's name?


	2. Chapter 2: Aftermath

7 Swordsmen of The Leaf  
Ch.2

Start

Morning was chaos in the hidden leaf village, especially in the office of the Hokage. Uproar and arguing wrung out throughout the office, making the old kage behind his desk sigh in exasperation. 'How had things gone so wrong in one night'?

First there was the incident with the ambassador to Cloud, who was seen the night before stealing away the young Hyuuga heiress. They found his corpse, the torso burned and cut deeply; but thankfully the child was nearby, unharmed. Or so they thought. In the morning they found a puddle of water, indicating that what they found that night was but a water clone. This of course led to the head of the Hyuuga clan, Hiashi, ordering war on Kumo.

If that wasn't bad enough, two other clan heirs were taken that night. One from the Inuzuka and the other from the Nara. Tsume was almost rabid for someone taking her son, and even Shikaku was up in arms over the matter.

But that wasn't even the worst of it. As it turned out, three children were taken from the Orphanage. Normally this would only be a minor concern since two of the children were non-important by the standards of the elders. But the other child taken was their Jinchuuriki, and the child he had sworn to protect on the behalf of the late fourth Hokage. Danzo was here as well, using every silver-tongued trick he could to cause a full-blown war with Cloud.

The old Kage rested his head in his hands, thinking deeply. There was too much missing information to declare a war. The fact that the body of the ambassador was found proved that he didn't take the child. When he tried to point this out, Danzo just reasoned that he his guardians probably double-crossed the ambassador and took credit for the capture.

Thankfully Shikaku stepped in by saying that all the children couldn't have possibly been stolen by just the two guards. He reasoned that someone else came, found the ambassador stealing the Hyuuga heiress. They killed the ambassador, framed him and took the child.

There was still a call for redemption for the attempt of theft from Hiashi. The 3rd agreed with that, but they still needed to handle the matter carefully. Hiashi begrudgedly agreed and left. As soon as the clan head was gone, the 3rd sighed in relief. At least that matter was settled, but there was still the two other missing clan heirs and their Jinchuuriki. 'Where ever you have gone my boy, please...be safe' the old Kage gave a weary sigh, praying for the children's safety where ever they were.

-

Meanwhile, at the hidden Mist village, the seven swordsmen had gathered in the hospital. They came to see the medical results from the children, to see if they might have any diseases or any possibility of a bloodline limit. Jinin and Jinpachi were there as well, still injured, but now they could at least walk some. They came to inspect the children chosen for the two in their absence.

"So, what did you think of the leaf village?" Asked Jinpachi, trying to fill some time while they waited for the Mizukage. Jinpachi had long, brown hair, a long beard which he wears in strands adorned with beads. He also has an eye-patch over his left eye, and the top of his head wrapped in bandages. He wore the Mist forehead protector and bandages around his neck like the other swordsmen.

"Hm! Weak security, but their anbu was about as strong as our own." Answered Kisame, reviewing the skills of the anbu he took down in the village.

"I think he meant scenery-wise" commented Jinin. Jinin had a dark-colored beard and hair tied into a topknot. The remainder of his face is very angular, and he has a rather protuberant nose. He had a Mist headband attached to the cap on his head. He wore a large poncho that covered the majority of his body and bandages around his neck.

"It was rather nice. For a place called the land of fire, they have a large variety of plant and wildlife." Answered Mangetsu, who had taken the time to appreciate another village's culture.

"I think that has something to do with their first Hokage. He had a bloodline limit that allowed him to grow plants at an advanced rate. Legends say that Konoha was built out of a huge forest made by their first kage." Said Kushimaru. He wanted to do a little research into the village, and had found that bit of information when he was digging.

Just then, their short kage had arrived and decided to throw his two-cents into the conversation. "Yes, but such a bloodline is now extinct. There remains no one of Senju blood but Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin. And the bloodline never appeared in her gene traits, and so It is lost to time." He said ominously, looking off in the distance.

"Lord Mizukage." As soon as they noticed his presence, the swordsmen bowed their heads. Well almost, Zabuza and Kisame just nodded to him in respect.

"We have the results from the children's blood work. None of them have diseases, but there were a few surprises." The others looked to him, questioningly.

"The girl that Ameyuri selected is of the Hyuuga clan and has an active bloodline." He looked to the short swordswoman expectantly.

"H-hyuuga. I didn't realize at the time. I found her being kidnapped by a cloud ninja. I thought it best to take the girl and frame that ninja for our intrusion." She looked nervously at Yagura, hoping he would believe her. He turned to Zabuza and addressed him.

"As you said, Zabuza. The boy you took was a member of the Inuzuka. Noticeable by his fangs. He should prove to be a worthy shinobi in the future." He then looked to the two injured swordsmen, who had to lean against the wall for support.

"Jinpachi, there is no sign of any disease, disorder or bloodline that we could find in the child Kushimaru selected for you." Jinpachi sighed in relief.

"Jinin." He called the attention of older man, who brought his focus to the Kage. "Unfortunately, the boy that Zabuza had chosen for you has a disability. He has no ability to create or mold chakra, his pathways are distorted and I'm afraid they cannot be repaired."

Everyone was shocked at this new information. They all looked to Jinin for his reaction, but the swordsman was just looking into space blankly. He suddenly spoke. "Zabuza! You chose this child because he was strong, do you keep by that?" He asked

"...Yes, the boy is strong. Kid almost broke my hand." he chuckled a bit at that, Jinin even smirked at the comment. "There you have it. If a man is strong enough, then he can break through any barrier. Besides, whoever said that you need chakra to be a swordsman? Hahaha!" The older man let out a boisterous laugh that lightened the feeling of the room.

Yagura smiled; glad he wasn't upset by the revelation. His face turned serious when he faced Kisame. The shark-faced man stopped laughing to stare back at the short kage, and still he grinned that fanged smile of his.

"I'm sure whether to up your rank or expel you from this village Kisame." The others looked to Yagura confused; he had never threatened any them with something so harsh.

"So i take it you found something good then." Kisame grinned even wider, expectant of the news.

"The boy had a seal on his stomach. Further study of said seal told us it was an eight trigram seal." Kushimaru took that time to let out an appreciatory whistle.

"That's some seal. I wonder what was so dangerous that they had to contain it with an eight trigram. The only thing i can think of is..." the masked man let that thought off, looking at Yagura for confirmation or denial.

"That's right. A seal so powerful could that the only purpose it could serve would be to hold back a tailed-beast. That boy is a Jinchuuriki, like me." To make a point, the kage put a hand to his stomach reminding himself of the three-tails housed within his own body.

"But which one? We know that the three and six tails are in our possession. But the other 7 tailed beasts' whereabouts are unconfirmed." Questioned Mangetsu

Well, what creature has visited that the village in the last few months?" Asked Yagura rhetorically.

"...the Nine tails" answered Zabuza solemly. He had gone with Mei to the Leaf village a few months ago. She was going to meet a friend, but when they arrived, the village was in ruins. They asked what happened and found out that the nine tailed fox had attacked the village. After hearing the news Mei rushed to the hospital to see if her friend was there. Unfortunately her friend and her husband died in the assault. Mei had cried for weeks after that.

Everyone in the room was completely stunned, even Kisame had dropped his jaw. He stumbled back, catching himself on a nearby chair. 'A jinchuuriki! I knew he must have been vital to the village, but a Jinchuuriki? And the nine tails' no less.'

"Kisame?" Asked Yagura

He looked up to the kage, thoughts still raging in his head.

"Do you still wish to raise and train the boy, even knowing what he is?" Yagura asked

Kisame took a few seconds to think it over. This was the first time the swordsmen had seen the man so deep in thought over something. Kisame looked back to the Mizukage and nodded affirmatively.

"Very well, well bring them to you now." The short kage turned his back and walked out of the room to tell the medics.

Everyone looked at the shark-faced man, trying to decipher his emotions. Kisame quickly loosened up the tension of the room with a question.

"So, Zabuza. How bad did Mei chew you out?" All the eyes of the swordsmen quickly turning to Zabuza. That question was ringing in their minds as well. Last time they saw Zabuza, he was being chased down through the village by his girlfriend.

Zabuza sighed, knowing he would have to reveal this sooner or later. "Thankfully, she forgave me after some pleading. But i had to agree to something if i want to raise that boy."

"So, what do you have to do?" Asked Mangetsu curiously.

"... Anybody want be my best man?" He asked awkwardly. Once again, the swordsmen were stunned. The couple was getting married? They knew it was an eventuality, but the Zabuza 'the Demon' Momochi finally getting hitched was quite surprising.

Mangetsu lifted his hand, dumbfounded.

"No, not you! Kisame, you want the position or not!" Zabuza asked annoyed.

The shark man just grinned at Zabuza's embarrassment and thought best to pile on. "Why me? I thought Yagura was your best friend, and besides you hate me!"

"Heh, me and Yagura have 'grown apart' these last phew years. Besides, this is punishment for telling Mei about our mission before i could come up with something to tell her." Zabuza gave a simple revenge scheme in place for the fact that him and Yagura really were too distant now.

The shark-faced man gave a hearty laugh, but nodded his head none the less. "Sure. Why not?"

Before they could discuss any further on the subject, the medics came out with the children. Each swordsmen was handed the infant chosen by them, then the medics had left. Yagura came in a second later to get a better look at the infants.

Jinpachi was a bit disappointed that he was given a female apprentice, but he saw the spark of explosions in the girl's eyes. She was definitely a fire-starter, a good trait for wielders of Shibuki.

Jinin was glad that Zabuza had chosen the boy based on his preference on strength, but the child's abnormally large eyebrows disturbed him a bit. Sensing this, the boy reached up and honked Jinin's nose. He gave a hearty chuckle at that, maybe he should overlook the boy's physical features when he himself had a very large nose he was sometimes mocked for.

"Have you decided names for them?" Asked Yagura curiously. While he usually didn't like to appear emotional as the Mizukage, he didn't want these children to be just thought of as weapons.

Zabuza looked to the infant in his arms, specifically the small fangs in his mouth. "Kiba" it was a bit lazy, but it seemed fitting.

Kushimaru took a note from that, looking to the child's oddly colored pink hair. "Sakura"

Mangetsu remembered the deer he saw at the house where he got his own child. "Shikamaru"

Ameyuri remembered that her daughter was of Hyuuga blood and thought of a name that would honor her noble heritage. "Hinata"

Jinin, being the traditionalist that he was gave his child an older name. "Lee"

Jinpachi looked at the child closely, searching his mind for a fitting name. "Tenten" the others looked at the man oddly, to which he just shrugged undeterred. He liked the name.

"And you Kisame?" Asked Yagura carefully, still wary of leaving a jinchuuriki in the hands of such an unpredictable person.

"Naruto" he replied

the others were just stunned. "You want to name him after a food topping?" Asked Kushimaru cautiously.

"No you idiot! Like maelstrom. This kids gonna shake the elemental nations, one way or the other." He grinned at the whiskered child; getting a small giggle in return

Yagura didn't quite like the way Kisame had phrased that. Now he was even surer he should look into that meeting Kisame had yesterday. He liked to keep tabs on the swordsmen, seeing as they were usually the source of his troubles, and one of his spies had reported something odd. Yesterday, just before the swordsmen had left his village, Kisame had a meeting with someone in a black cloak with red clouds.

But for now he would leave them be. The Mizukage left the room to leave the seven swordsmen to get more acquainted with their new apprentices.

-

Border between the Land of Fire  
and the Land of Lightning - 2 weeks later.

The Hokage, Hiashi, Danzo and some other Jounin were on there way to meet with the Raikage for an exchange. The old kage had contacted the cloud with the news that their ambassador was dead and the accusation of theft of the Hyuuga heiress. The Raikage sent a reply, denying the accusation and sending personal medics to look at the body. The results showed that the ambassador was killed by swords imbued with lightning, a technique mainly used by cloud.

It seemed likely to the Raikage that the ambassador's guards had double crossed him, taken the hyuuga heiress and left the ambassador to take the blame. So in order to avoid a nation disaster, they had agreed upon an alliance. And to seal that alliance, the Raikage was to give Konoha one their two Jinchuuriki and Konoha was to give Kumo the body of the ambassador, just incase it had any secrets that shouldn't be discovered.

The Hokage and his group had arrived at the border dividing the two nations. They saw that the other party was already there, waiting for them. It was the fourth Raikage, a tall muscular man with dark skin and blonde hair. His party contained several cloud Jounin, recognized by the white flank vests. Once the Hokage's party was close enough, they saw that the Raikage's assistant was holding a small bundle; most likely the Jinchuuriki promised.

"Have you brought what we asked?" Questioned Danzo, who whished to get right to the point. Personally, the Hokage didn't want the old war hawk to come with him to this meeting. But his silver tongue was a very reliable resource for the village.

"Mabui!" The Raikage yelled for his assistant. It was an attractive young woman with light grey-hair. She stepped up to the Hokage's party and showed them the blonde haired girl in the bundle. The Hokage motioned for two of his Jounin and check that she was indeed a Jinchuuriki. The Raikage, in turn, checked to see if the ambassador's body was real and not a fake or illusion.

Both being confirmed, they transferred the jinchuuriki for the ambassador's body, completing the trade. Next, two Jounin exchanged packets of paper to give to their Kages. These were the conditions drawn up for their alliance. Each part would read the packets and meet in a week or so to see what they agreed and disagreed on.

The Raikage approached the old kage and reached out his hand to finalize the agreement with a handshake. The Hokage shook the man's hand firmly, thankful that the Raikage hadn't broken the old man's hand. They each gave a gracious smile and turned away to retreat to their own villages.

Just before they left, the Raikage's assistant approached the Hokage. "Um, if it wasn't too much trouble. I was wondering if she could keep her name. I-it's Yugito." She asked the older kage nervously, much to his amusement.

Danzo was just about to tell her off how they would call her whatever they whished, when the Hokage stopped him with a stern stare.

"It's a beautiful name, Ill be sure to remember it. You have no need to worry, well take good care of her." He smiled gently at the nervous woman who was very grateful for the gesture. She bowed and ran off to her own party, receiving a joking scalding by her own Kage for cavorting with them.

The Hokage gave an amused chuckle, watching the interaction. Once they were far enough away, he stopped and turned to the silently steaming Hiashi. The Hyuuga clan head was still angry for the fact that he had no retribution for the theft of his daughter. The man was utterly confused when the old kage stopped in his walk to hand over the Jinchuuriki to him.

"What are you doing?" He asked confused, trying to calm the child who had started crying when she was passed to his arms.

"Hiashi, you said you wanted redemption for what the cloud did. At this time, this is the best I can offer you. Raise the girl as if she were your own, I'm sure Hitomi will be pleased." He smiled at the dumbfounded clan head, who could only nod in agreement. Hiashi was trying to see this as his superior officer giving him an order. The girl was a jinchuuriki and she needed guarding, unlike their last one.

The Hokage was thankful that Hiashi didn't argue with him over this. He still had two clan heads devastated over their losses, one less helped ease his stress. At least now the village elders could rest easy knowing they had a jinchuuriki once again. He asked the seal masters he brought with him about which tailed beast the girl contained. They said that it was a seal with inscriptions that helped seal massive fire chakra and some used in the reaper death seal. The only tailed beast with fire was the Nibi, the two tails. It wasn't as threatening as the Kyuubi, but it was something at least.

The old kage sighed in exasperation. These last few weeks were wearing him down. He wished Minato was still around so he could finally retire. Perhaps it was time to find one of his old students to take his place.

-

Mist village  
1 month later

"-by the power invested in me as Mizukage, I now pronounce you as husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Announced Yagura, acting as his oldest friend's priest. Yagura was disappointed that Zabuza hadn't asked him to serve as his best man, but at least he could marry his two oldest friends.

Zabuza wearing a dark blue tux, and surprisingly no bandages on his mouth, leaned forward to kiss his new wife and mother to his child. Mei returned it gratefully, she was wearing a teal wedding dress that showed off her body well. Everyone at the wedding applauded for the newly weds, glad to see them together.

Kisame stood to Zabuza's side, serving as his best men, congratulating him and patting him on the back. Next to Kisame was Mangetsu, then Kushimaru, Jinpachi and Jinin. All dressed in black tuxes, wanting to differentiate from the groom. Kushimaru had even removed his mask for the occasion, albeit a bit forced to by the bride. Surprisingly, he had a young-looking face that drew stares from nearly every woman at the wedding.

On Mei's side was Ameyuri, serving as Mei's maid of honor. She was wearing a dark purple dress that she only wore on extremely special occasions. Mei and her didn't know each other that well, but she was still the best choice. The others standing next to Ameyuri were miscellaneous friends from all over the village.

The after party was great, drinks and wedding cake passed around for all to enjoy. The swordsmen each had brought their children with them to enjoy the festivities. Jinpachi and Jinin were stuck in the corner, not really joining the social gathering but still enjoying being part of it. Mangetsu had grabbed Ameyuri from her talk with Mei and was dancing with her, while she tried to keep from blushing at the bold move.

Kisame had even found someone to dance with, but that did have something to do with Naruto. The kid was a good chick magnet. They thought the kid was adorable, especially with the whiskers. Kushimaru was swamped with girls who were trying to get him to dance with them. Thankfully he came up with a believable excuse, and ran off, sakura in his arms. He tried hiding anywhere he could, but his daughter kept laughing, alerting the crazed women to his location.

Zabuza and Mei were watching all the swordsmen interacting in the wedding, amused at how they acted in a regular social gathering like this. Mei was holding Kiba, rocking him to sleep. She was a bit disturbed about becoming a mother before a bride, but at least she finally got her dream wedding to her night in bloody armor. She should remember to thank Yagura as well. With ought him, it would've taken months before they could get this all together. Speak of the devil!

"Well, how does it feel to be Mrs. Momochi?" Asked Yagura playfully. She giggled at the question, a small blush on her cheeks.

"It feels great. Thanks for getting this together so quick Yagura, we really appreciate it." She gave the small kage a half-hug, still holding Kiba with one arm. Yagura returned the hug, glad that he could help.

"No problem. I'd like to stay but I have some paperwork I need to finish." He said sadly

she pouted a bit, but gave him a forgiving smile and nodded. She turned to her new husband, who was looking at Yagura's retreating form with unease.

"Zabu-kun? What's wrong?" She asked worried. She tightened her hold on Kiba.

Zabuza looked a little longer at the small Kage before turning back to his new wife and grinning at her with his fanged smile.

"It's nothing. Let's just enjoy the moment while it lasts." He wrapped an arm around Mei, looking deeply into her eyes. To everyone around them, they looked like a happy, normal family.

The new family was heading out to go home, but quickly remembered the Bouquet toss. She turned her back to the gathering group of woman, ready to do the ceremony. She closed her eyes and threw back the bouquet of flowers. Unfortunately, the toss was a bit too much and the flowers went straight over their heads. When the flowers came flying near her, Ameyuri acted on reflex and caught them without even looking.

She looked down at the bouquet in her hands, blinked twice, and then blushed bright red when she put two and two together. She looked up in embarrassment, trying to hide her face in the flowers, failing miserably. She peaked over the edge only too see Mangetsu wink at her. She dove back into the bouquet, her face fully red.

Mei and Zabuza chuckled at the two, knowing they would have a bright future if they ever accepted anyone. With that, the newly formed Momochi family headed off to their new home, a wedding present from Yagura.

End

not that much on this chapter, but it's still a work in process. Got a lot of good reviews on who I paired with the seven swordsmen. Ill try and continue with this. The next chapter will be a time skip, and a small bit of how Haku comes in to the story. And Haku will be a girl in this story. My mind simply cannot process her as a guy.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3: Years gone by

7 swordsmen of the Leaf  
Ch.3

Gotten most of the groundwork done on this story, now time to move ahead on to where the naruto timeline starts.

Start

Kirigakure  
5 years past

A lot had happened in the last five years. Each of the swordsmen had grown a close bond to their children and officially adopted each one barely even a year after their 'heist'. Even now Zabuza was walking home with his own son Kiba, who was currently riding on the tall man's shoulder.

The Inuzuka, even away from his clan, still inherited the wild physical and mental traits of an animal. His fangs and claws had developed over the years and could probably tear out a grown man's throat; something Zabuza was actually teaching him, to the ire of Mei. His hair was still an untamed mess of light brown hair, never being able to be kept combed.

Zabuza had just come back from an anbu mission and as soon as he got home, his son had begged him to tell him the details. So on his way to pick up some groceries for the house, since his newly promoted wife was too busy, he told the boy all he could without being scolded by Kiba's mother later.

"So how many guys did you kill this mission dad?!" Asked the excited boy

"Hehehe, not that many this mission. Only about 50." Said the swordsmen nonchalantly. He had killed plenty of ninja on the missions he was sent on. His specialty was fighting against greater numbers.

"That's so cool! When do you think id be able to go on a mission like that?"

"Hm! Not for a phew more years, and even then I'm not sure your mother will let you go on such dangerous missions where you have to kill." Even though Kiba had potential for being a great ninja, and the kid was already scrappy as is, his mother was way too protective. As soon as the child got so much as a paper cut, she stopped what she was doing and came too his aid. Luckily, Zabuza's tough love evened out their son so he could handle a situation on his own.

"Aw man, that stupid! I wish she'd stop treating me like such a baby." The boy sulked, thinking that his mother's over protectiveness would smother any chance of him doing any missions that would bring him closer to being as great as his dad.

He perked up when he noticed someone on the side of the street. It was a young girl with long black hair, in rags. She looked like she hadn't eaten or slept for days. Kiba dismounted from his father and scurried up to the girl, who pulled her legs against her chest startled.

"Hey, what happened to you?" He asked curiously. He cocked his head sideways, not sure why someone so young would be abandoned on the street.

She only stared at him with scarred eyes, her body telling that she would run away at a moment's notice. Zabuza approached them cautiously, carefully not to scare the girl too much.

"Why are you out here in the street, shouldn't you be at home with your family?" Again another innocent question from the fanged boy, but unfortunately it only made the girl upset. Tears formed at the edges of her eyes, bad memories flooding back.

"U-um, I'm sorry. W-what i meant was -!" Zabuza put a hand on the boy's shoulder to prevent him from upsetting her even more.

"Why don't you come with us? We can give you food and a hot bath. We can help you." He stretched out a hand to the petite girl, trying to earn her trust. At the very least, he could put the girl in the orphanage.

She reached out her own hand, hesitantly. She waited a phew seconds before deciding, and connected her hand with his own. Kiba grinned at her kindly, trying to earn her trust as well. Once she was standing she hid behind Zabuza's leg, still not trusting Kiba. This made the boy pout, depressed.

Zabuza only chuckled at the interaction, pulling Kiba back onto his shoulder. The three walked towards the Momochi home, the girl holding Zabuza's hand, Kiba on his shoulder and bags of groceries in the other hand.

Once they reached home, Zabuza ushered the girl to the shower while he put up the groceries. Once she was fully bathed, he made her a small meal with his minimal cooking skills. She really didn't care for the taste, just eating it up as fast as she could. Once she was full, Zabuza and Kiba were trying to get her to tell them anything about her. Her name, what happened to her, etc.

"I'm home!" Mei announced her arrival, coming though the door to a surprisingly quit house. Now that definitely didn't sit right. She heard her husband and son talking in the living room and followed their voices. She saw them talking to a small girl, asking her miniscule questions liker her name or address. She wouldn't budge. Once she made her presence known, they filled her in on the story and she joined them in trying to get the girl to talk.

Seeing how kindly the red-haired woman was and how well the other two had treated her, she finally gave in. "H-Haku. My name is Haku." She said shyly, poking her fingers together.

Mei smiled kindly at her, thinking she was just adorable. "Haku, that's a pretty name. Tell me Haku, why were you out on the street."

She pulled her legs to her chest, dark memories coming to her. "My mommy told me to run. Men came after us...my father came after us. We ran and ran, but she tripped and fell...she told me to run and to not look back...and so i did." She buried her head in her arms, tears starting to come down. Mei pulled the girl into a hug, trying to ease her pain.

"Brrrr! Why did it get so cold all of a sudden" kiba rubbed his arms trying to get warm. The room had suddenly dropped in temperature. Ice was starting to form on the windows. It took a few seconds before Zabuza realized what was happening.

"Your from the Yuki clan...your a refugee from the bloodline purge, aren't you?" Months ago, Yagura had declared an immediate destruction of bloodline users. No one knew why, but majority followed his command without question. Zabuza vehemently went against this decision; his wife having two bloodlines was a major part of that.

He, Mei and some others that were against the 'purge' started a rebellion against the short kage. With all seven swordsmen backing them up, they came out victorious; Zabuza delivering the final blow to his old friend killing him. Yagura's death led to the three tails running loose away from the village and a vacancy for the position of Mizukage.

The three tails wasn't really that big of a loss since the mist still had two other jinchuuriki. However the position of Mizukage was given to Mei for her help in leading in the rebellion and for her having two bloodlines.

"N-no! I'm not a bloodline user, I'm normal! Normal!" She screamed the denial in fear of rejection. The room got colder and colder as she got more upset. Mei tightened her hold on the girl, regretting that she hadn't been able to save her from losing her family.

"Shh. It's alright, your safe now. No one's going to hurt you anymore." Haku just shook her head defiantly, not accepting that she would be ok if she revealed her bloodline.

"She's right. Our last Kage was the one who caused the purge. But he's gone now, he...can't hurt any of you anymore" said Zabuza solemly. While he knew he had to take down Yagura in the prior kage's tyranny, it still didn't seem like something he would do. Zabuza remembered that when he put his sword through his old friend, ending his life, he saw thanks in his eyes. Like he was glad to die.

"Yes. I'm the new Mizukage, and I'm doing everything possible to help families hurt by the purge." 'Thos left anyway' she thought on a sour note. "We can help you too Haku, but you have to trust us." She gave the girl a kind smile, hoping to ease the girl's nerves.

"..." she didn't answer, just staying in the embrace of the older woman.

"Would it help if i told you I was a bloodline user too?" That brought attention to the girl she perked slightly, but not enough to look her in the eyes.

"In fact i have two. Boil release and lava release, and by what I've seen about what you've done here; you are definitely able to use ice release." Mei looked around at the frost covered room, pulling Haku closer to get a little warmth.

"Y-yes. My clan's bloodline limit lets us use ice release. I-I'm sorry for any damage i did to your house, i d-didn't mean it." Haku was almost bawling at how much trouble she had caused to the people who had helped her. Mei just embraced her tighter, telling her words of encouragement and comfort.

"Shh, shh. It's fine. I'm a Kage after all; i should have no problem getting rid of this. But maybe you should hold your breath." Haku just looked at her curiously, before she noticed steam coming from between the Mizukage's lips. She did as instructed, holding her breath, and watched as the temperature rose and the ice melted and soon evaporated.

Haku looked at the woman in awe, amazed at the power she used. Mei sweat dropped, not used to that much appreciation for her ability. All she did was make some steam to heat up the room.

"Haku, id like to help you anyway I can. It's my responsibly to fix the mistakes of the last kage, and the loss of your family was caused by one of those mistakes. I want to make that up to you if at all possible...in fact how about you join our family?" She smiled at the child, genuinely inviting the girl into their family. She looked to her husband for support, who was hesitant but nodded soon after. The girl was homeless, and she had already made a bond with the Mei.

She stared at the woman in shock, and then turned to look at Zabuza and Kiba who gave her reassuring smiles that they wanted her to join too. Tears started running down her cheeks, she was choking on her own words so much all she could do was nod excitedly.

Mei giggled at how she was acting, pulling her into another hug. Kiba and Zabuza joined in the embrace and turned it into a group hug. It took nearly an hour for the girl to stop crying tears of joy, but she enjoyed the feeling of happiness.

The day after she was officially adopted and became Haku Momochi. She would be staying in Kiba's room until they could build one for herself, but for the time being the young boy bonded closely with his new sister. The Momochi family had yet again grown, and it wasn't going to stop there either.

-  
7 years later  
Mist ninja academy

Twelve years had gone by since the arrival of the future generation of the seven swordsmen of the mist. Each had grown powerful from the tutoring from their respective parents, and now they were graduating. One step closer to surpassing their teachers/parents.

They had grown to teenagers and their bodies and fighting skills had improved exceedingly well over the years. Kiba gad grown to average height, his body not changing much over the years except for the muscles developed from his years of training under his drill sergeant of a father. His claws and fangs had fully grown in, which helped a lot when implementing it into the fighting style his father taught him. He wore a large hooded coat with light blue fur in the hood and sleeves.

Haku had grown into a beautiful young woman through the years. Her hair drawn into a bun, as to not catch on anything. Her face had grown even more beautiful from that starved little girl from the streets all those years ago. Her clothes consisted of a alight blue kimono. She drew many stares from the males of the class and almost as many jealous glances from the females. This caused Kiba to be unofficially given the title of her 'protector'. It seemed his mother's over protectiveness had transferred to him, so he took every precaution to make sure guys didn't look at her like just a piece of meat.

Haku's skill in controlling her bloodline had advanced greatly. Even with no mentor to teach her, she had found create ways to use the ice that no one had even thought of, much less considered. And to add to her skills, she had studied the human body. Using her superior knowledge to neutralize someone using senbon to hit pressure points. She was a rising prodigy, who only took this long to graduate because she wanted to be put on the same team as her brother.

Shikamaru was another rising genius in the crop. While he was lazy as a sloth, he had perfect scores on nearly all his tests. He had grown up to be a bit slim, not very physical. His hair was tied into a pony-tail and he wore a teal vest over a fishnet shirt. The boy let out a yawn, showing off his fanged teeth inherited from his time training with his father.

Lee had grown to be a very strong young man. He trained his body to compensate for not being able to use chakra, being a pure taijutsu and kenjutsu fighter. Jinin and other barbers had tried several times to alter or cut down the boy's massive eyebrows; but nothing worked. To this day, he still had his large bushy eyebrows. His hair was a bit messy and he wore a large poncho covering his body below the neckline, mimicking his father's style.

Tenten had grown to use an odd hair style. She kept her hair in two circular buns, mimicking the ears of a panda. Like her father predicted, she was a natural born fire starter. All over the village fireworks would go off every other week in the mornings to awake the village in a large 'boom!'. She wore a green Chinese dress shirt, taking a liking to their customs and traditions.

Naruto was the one of them that had grown the most from his training. Like his father, his skin had developed into shark skin; being tough as steel and harder than rock. His eyes had adapted to look like Kisame's as well, small with slited pupils. His whiskers had turned to gill-like protrusions on his face. He almost looked like a mini Kisame, except for his spiky blonde hair. The boy wore a sleeveless black shirt that showed off his body well.

Growing up, Kisame quickly noticed that the boy had taken to ramen. He loved the stuff, but his father wouldn't have him eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He used ramen as motivation, and it worked wonders. Naruto learned quickly and adapted to situations with ease. And with all the training he did, his body had filled out greatly. Nearly every girl in the village was after him; unfortunately he was already juggling two as it was.

Hinata and Sakura had been infatuated with him since they were kids. They fought for years before realizing the only way to get what they wanted and to still be friends, was to 'share' him. Sakura kept her hair pink, but styled it shaggy, yet elegant, like her father's, and she wore a sleeveless black shirt that stopped at her midriff. Hinata kept her black hair short and wore a basic blue long sleeved sweater. The girls had grafted the skills of their parents. Hinata using her mother's high-speed maneuvers and lightning release jutsus, and Sakura using her father's sewing needle fighting style. They both had planned to advance their parent's style by layering on their own techniques in the future.

And last but not least was a young boy who had grown to be a part of the group when he was a child. His name was Chojuro. He had short light blue hair, and wore rectangular glasses attached to headphones he wore on his ears. Like the other children of the seven swordsmen, he had fanged teeth; no one knew why, most people only developed that trait by being near or using one of the seven swords. He was a shy boy and could barely hurt a fly. But even so, he was well known for his superior skills in fighting. The boy kept taking short glances at Haku, blushing slightly. Like most of the boys in their class, he had a crush on the girl, but he knew it went deeper than that.

Tenten, sitting in the row of seats above him, growled seeing how Chojuro was staring at Haku. Unknown to the shy boy, Tenten had a crush on him, infatuated by his shy and subservient personality.  
Lee sat next to her, patting her on the shoulder trying to calm her down before she tried to blow up the room...Like last week.

Kiba and Haku were across from them, Kiba growling at any guy that even dared to come near his sister. Haku just smiled like it was usually, ignoring the interactions going on around her. Shikamaru was beside Kiba fast asleep, small snores being released.

Naruto was on the top row of seats, leaning back with his feet up on the table. He had an arm wrapped around both Sakura and Hinata who were simply leaning into him; trying not to fall asleep. The majority of the class looked at the three in envy. The guys because of how Naruto had hooked up with not one, but two beautiful Kunoichi. The girls glared at Hinata and Sakura because the two had stolen the best option available in their class.

The ninja in training were waiting to be called to be tested to become genin. Thankfully Mei removed the barbaric tradition in place before, where the last student alive would become a genin. As it was right now, it seemed like a better option if the village had more than just a phew good ninja in their ranks.

Their instructor called the next name on the list. "Hinata Ringo!" He called the girl's name loudly to get her attention. Said girl unwillingly removed herself from Naruto and went down to prove herself to be a genin. Before she was out of arms length, Naruto caught and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a good luck. She blushed deeply and thanked him for the support. Sakura gave her a phew words of encouragement and she went off to take her test.

Majority of the class had already done the required tasks to pass. Those being the basic three techniques - substitution, transformation and clone, and at least three other jutsu. Most students used the water dragon jutsu as well as techniques taught to them by their parents. Lee, not being able to use chakra, passed thanks to his superior scores in taijutsu.

Hinata came out a few moments later wearing a mist headband around her neck. Her group of friends congratulated her, glad that they had all passed and were moving in the ninja world. It took an hour before team assignments could be made; having to see which teams would work well together from the ones that had passed. In the meantime, the students that passed just talked about which team they hoped to be on while the ones who failed the test left, not needing to be there any longer.

An hour later, the instructor had made the final arrangements for the teams assignments. Kiba and Chojuro crossed their fingers hoping that they got put on the same team as Haku. Naruto was sure he would be paired with his girls, knowing that their combined fighting styles worked great together. Lee was hoping to be on the same team as Tenten, them being close friends. Tenten didn't care whose team she was placed on, Just as long Haku wasn't on it and her Chojuro was.

"Team 4 - Naruto Hoshigaki, Sakura Kuriarare and Hinata Ringo. Your sensei will be Ao Saizen." The three were ecstatic to be on the same team, but not very surprised. Naruto picked both of his girls up in a large hug, they just giggled at how happy he was.

"Team 5 - kiba Momochi, Shikamaru Hozuki and Haku Momochi. Your sensei will be Suigetsu Hozuki." Kiba was happy as could be. He gave his sister a crushing hug, who could only grin and bear it; but she was happy to be on the same team as her brother. Even Shikamaru was happy with the arrangement, especially since his sensei happened to be his uncle.

"Team 6 - Lee Akebino, Tenten Munashi and Chojuro Miyata. Your sensei will be Utakata Suzumura." Tenten jumped up from her seat in victory. Lee just gave her a small grin glad they were on the same team. Chojuro was a bit solemn that he wasn't on Haku's team, but at least he was still among friends.

The instructors listed off the other teams, but none of the others really cared that much. They were each given a training are were they would meet their sensei's. After team assignments, the students were allowed to leave school to tell their parent's the good news. To celebrate, Mei had a restaurant set up a special celebration feast for the current and future seven swordsmen.

The large group had a great party to celebrate the children coming another step closer to becoming great ninja. As a special gift, all the children were given a 'mimic' sword. These were made for apprentices to the seven swordsmen. They would copy the form and abilities of one of the seven swords, but would only have a tenth of the power.

An odd thing happened when Naruto received his though; normally it would have copied Samehada and turned into its wrapped form. This sword was wrapped in bandages like Kisame's, but the shape was different. It was wider at the base and thinned out near the tip, opposed to Samehada who was cylindrical in shape. Naruto took off some bandages to see if anything else was different and found out his blade had red spiked scales, which where sharper and taller than Samehada's. Naruto just shrugged, he liked the new design; it suited him well.

Some of the kids tried out their news swords after they got home; getting tips fro their seniors on how to handle the weapons. Kiba had the most trouble. His father had specifically trained his son to be strong enough to hold Kibikiribocho with ease, but he was still getting used to swinging the sword without falling on his back. Luckily he would get the hang of it by the time he met his new sensei. Suigetsu was notorious for being ruthless in his training, never giving any luxury to anyone. Having his nephew on Kiba's team wasn't gonna make the sadistic man go easy on them. He had to be ready for whatever came tomorrow.

-  
Next day  
Meeting place for team 4

Naruto, Sakura and Hinata met up in the designated area they were told to go to meet their sensei. It was a clearing in the forest that overlooked a large river, flowing gently. It was actually a rather serene environment. They waited for a phew minutes, sitting against a large rock in the center of the clearing.

Moments later a man appeared from the dense foliage, presumably their new sensei. He was a middle aged man with blue hair styled in a moused-up manner. His left eye was blue and his right eye was covered by an eye-patch. He wore a talisman in each ear with the kanji "to hear" written on them twice on each side. He wore a green haori with white trimmings and a basic grey striped suit underneath. He addressed the three with an aggressive glare trying to intimidate them. Unfortunately it had zero success. The three of them just gave blank stares waiting for the man to confirm or deny he was their sensei.

"My name is Ao Saizen I shall be your sensei from this day onward. You are to adress me as Ao-sensei or sir. Is that understood" they still just gave him those empty stares, so he had to re-assert himself. "I said is that understood!" The three were so startled, they jumped and did a small salute and a quick 'yes sir'. He smirked triumphantly, pacing back and forth in front of them evaluating them.

"So, how about some introductions? Each of you tell me your name, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and dream for the future." He tried to ease the tension, laughing when the three of them let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.

"Maybe you should go first, to show us Ao-sensei." Hinata asked meekly, still a bit cautious of the man.

He chuckled at her question, but did as asked. "Alright. My name, as i told you, is Ao Saizen. My hobbies include bird watching and training" he saw the tall blonde one smirk a bit, trying to hold in a laugh.  
"My likes are subordinate ninja that listen to their superior officers. My dislikes are insubordinate punks who go off on their, doing what they want with out thinking of the consequences." He shot a small side-glance at the blonde who turned away whistling innocently.  
"My dream for the future is to see the title of 'the bloody mist' be erased from our village's history. To see this village break away from the barbaric traditions kept up even today." He saw that the three actually admired his speech a lot. He smiled and pointed to the blonde-haired one.

"Alright Blondie, your next."

His eyebrow twitched at that comment, he hated when people called him that. "Hm! My name is Naruto Hoshigaki. My hobbies are training with my dad and swimming. My likes are my family and my girlfriends. My dislikes are pompous assholes who think there better than everyone just because there of 'noble blood'. You should make a name for yourself, not use someone else's to become popular! ...anyway, my dream for the future is to become the greatest seven swordsmen in all of history." He seemed adamant about his dislike, but Ao didn't budge knowing it was probably a personal issue. He pointed over to the pink-haired girl next to Naruto.

She grinned, which had a bitter-sweet affect. The girl was definitely pretty, but the fanged teeth made her grin look a bit creepy. "My name is Sakura Kuriarare. My hobbies are sewing and training with my dad. My likes are my boyfriend Naruto." She wrapped an arm around the boy to make her point. "- my fellow girlfriend, Hinata, and stuffed animals. My dislikes are girls who rely on other people to fight for her. My dream is to live happily with Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan for the foreseeable future." Ao nodded in confirmation, impressed by her strong morals. He pointed to the black-haired girl, presumably Hinata.

"U-um, my name is Hinata Ringo. My hobbies are training and cooking with my mother. My likes are N-naruto-kun, Sakura-chan and spending time with them and my family. My dislikes are people who try to belittle me, and call me weak." The girl looked down solemnly. She was often mocked that she was an inferior ninja because of her shy and meek personality. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder to re-assure her. She smiled in thanks and continued on. "My dreams for the future are to be strong enough to protect my family from any harm and keep us together for as long as possible."

Ao smiled at the three, glad that his student's already had excellent morals and dreams. Next was to test their skill level. "Alright, that's it for the introductions. Now were going to test your battle skills." He pulled out a kunai and took a fighting stance, showing he was serious. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata took out their swords and took up a battle stance ready to fight against their new sensei.

"Heh. Alright, here's your test - a game of tag."

"...tag?" Questioned a dumbfounded Naruto, lowering his fighting stance

"What?" Asked Hinata, unsure of their Sensei's training methods

"That can't be right" commented Sakura, confused.

Ao shook his head amused. "That's right, were going to play a game of tag. The rules are simple - to win the game you have to hit me. There are only two rules. A 'tag' can only be made by physical contact, jutsu don't count. And once one of you tags me, they will be unable to help the remaining players for the rest of the game. You have an hour, anyone who has not tagged me before time runs out will be put back in the academy" he crossed his arms, and glared at them. Showing he was being fully serious in his decision.

"Held back? You can't do that!" Screamed Sakura indignantly. If one of them failed, odds are they'd never be allowed to be on the same team again.

"On the contrary. As sensei, i have full control over the team assignments. If i deem one or more of you unfit to be a ninja, i am fully within my right to hold them back a year to improve."

"He's right. Our sensei can decide our future based on how they judge our strength." Naruto said ominously. He tightened his grip on his Samehada and continued. "So let's show him were strong enough! I don't know about you two, but i didn't just take one step forward to my goal, only to take two steps back!" Naruto lifted his triangular blade and pointed to Ao in challenge. The other two re-positioned their battle stances, ready to fight.

"All right then. Let's see what you got." Ao disappeared in a flurry of mist. The game was on.

Naruto, Sakura and Hinata formed a triangle facing away from each other. They searched the forest for any movement, trying to find their sensei's whereabouts. Naruto's ear twitched and he swung his sword in a diagonal slash. The force from the attack caused several trees to topple over, severed in the middle. Ao jumped from his position after the trees fell, revealing he was hiding behind them.

While in the air, he did a quick set of hand seals. "Water style: water dragon jutsu!" A large mass of water from the nearby river rose from its position and gathered around Ao to form a large body of water in the shape of a dragon. It charged ahead ready to wipe out the three.

Sakura acted quickly. "Secret art: thread wall" instantly, a wall of wires appeared in front of them in the shape of a spider's web. The water dragon collided with the net, cutting it apart and turning it back to simple water. Hinata pointed one of her Kiba blades at the still airborne Ao. A bolt of lightning was fired from the electrically powered blade, hitting Ao directly. His body sizzled before bursting and turning to water, revealing it to be a water clone.

"Dammit! Where is he?" Naruto looked around the forest, searching for any movement. He used some hand signals to silently tell Hinata and Sakura to split up to look for Ao. They nodded in confirmation and went off in opposite directions. Naruto gripped Samehada, aggravated with this game already.

Naruto stopped in the forest to clear his mind. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He had to think of this clearly. Using a technique his dad taught him, he used chakra to enhance his sense of hearing and smell to pick up any trace. He waited, seeing if anything came within his range...and waited...and waited.

"Ahhhh! Where is he already?!" He threw his arms up, indignantly. Patience really wasn't one of his best traits.

"Temper, temper." A voice rung out behind him. He turned quickly to see Ao smirking at him. Naruto, in his anger, just swiped his blade at the man. It created another force wave, but went through the image of Ao. Another clone.

"What?! Oh come on! You've gotta be kidding me." All around him, more and more Ao clones appeared around him. They mocked him, saying he should control his anger. Naruto swung at each one, only phasing their image and doing nothing to damage the illusions.

Naruto stopped, not tired, just annoyed. He was obviously just trying to annoy him. Naruto walked away, hopeful of finding the real Ao. After the blonde cleared the foliage and was out of sight, all the Ao's disappeared but one. "Hm! Kid needs to learn some patience."

"Oh i did." Ao turned around to face Naruto behind him, already finished forming with hand seal. "Red water style: blood shark bomb jutsu!" Pulling moisture out of the air, naruto formed a red mass of water that quickly took the shape of a thresher shark[1] and charged at Ao. The older man had barely enough time to dodge the attack, sighing in relief. He looked to Naruto only to see the blonde smirk at him. He was confused until he felt a splitting pain in his back. He looked back to see the red shark had rammed his backside, and then promptly exploded into red water. The force of the explosion sent him flying into a tree.

Ao rebounded off the tree before he hit it, reducing the damage. He stood looking for Naruto. He had disappeared. Ao was deeply confused. 'What was that? The shark bomb jutsu is supposed to disperse if it misses its target. And that red water too, that can't be right.' There were cases were people using elemental jutsu would use a different color of that element. For example, someone using yellow lightning jutsu instead of the general blue. But earth and water style jutsu never changed color to his knowledge. He shrugged, keeping the knowledge in mind for later. The older man walked off to test the other two, cautiously watching out for the blonde, red water user.

He was searching through the foliage for one of the other two. He got lucky when he spotted Sakura, most likely looking for him. To test her reaction time, he through a kunai with an explosive tag into a tree next to her. She saw the bomb instantly and got the hell outa there as fast as she could.

"(Hissssss...Boom!)" The bomb went off, taking out a large chunk of the forest with it. Ao quickly used a water jutsu to extinguish the fire before it spread. He went down to the ground to find Sakura, out cold. 'Probably didn't make it out of the blast radius in time' he thought solemly. He sighed and went down to pick up her body. Once he flipped it over, he saw that it was a stuffed doll. Wires exploded out of its stomach and clinged to him. He tried to get them off, but he soon noticed that the doll was littered with explosive tags..."that bitch"

"(Boom!)" Her explosion was three times the size of his own. The fire left from the explosion encompassed a majority of the forest. Luckily Hinata came to her rescue and put out the flames with a wind jutsu. Naruto came soon after and put out the embers with few shark bombs. They watched victoriously as the smoke cleared and they saw the burned remains of their sensei...that promptly went up in a puff of smoke, being replaced by a log.

The three were pissed to say the least

"You-" Naruto

"Have-" Sakura

"Got-" Hinata

"- to be kidding me!" They all screamed at once. This guy just kept beating them with these basic jutsu. It was embarrassing. They heard a slow mocking clap behind them followed by laugh.

Ao was standing behind them, which had all three seeing red. "Hahaha. That was a pretty good effort. But I'm afraid you've already wasted a half hour. Now, let's get this over with." Ao took up a fighting stance, hands outstretched in a way that showed he was going to use a palm style.

The three pulled their swords ready to get this over with. Hinata charged first, disappearing from her position and re-appearing barely even an inch away from the older man. She tried stabbing him with her Kiba, but with two quick finger jabs to her biceps, her arms dropped. The swords fell out her hands. Too shocker to react, she couldn't block the palm thrust to her stomach that sent her colliding with a tree. Naruto went to go help her, while Sakura approached Ao.

Their sensei made a single hand-sign and gathered moisture in the air into a water sword. While the liquid form seemed like it would break at practically anything, the razor sharp edge promised pain.

Ao and Sakura collided blades with a resounding clash, their blades grinding against each other. Sakura, seeing that Ao was stronger, broke apart and tried to slash at him diagonally. Ao just sidestepped the attack and made a swipe with his sword. The blade made a cut in her side, causing her to fall to her knees in pain.

"Now then, since your times almost up, how about we call it a day and you three don't have to take anymore punishment." He pointed his swords towards the girl's fallen form, giving her a chance to surrender.

"..Please, like you could hurt me." She taunted, grinning at him from the ground.

Ao just looked at her confused. He was obviously winning, what was she talking about. Unless...

"It's called playing possum, you idiot!" Just then, she pulled on wires hidden in the ground. Ao felt something on his legs and looked down to see thread around his feet. The wires pulled him down, causing to fall on his back. As soon as he was falling, Sakura jumped from her prone position to punch him in the gut.

"Hehe, Nice job. First rule of being a ninja is deception. You pass your test, congratulations." Ao unraveled himself from the wires as Sakura walked off in triumph, nose upturned. She leaned against a tree to watch Naruto and Hinata.

"My turn!" Naruto shouted in challenge, pointing Samehada at the older man. He charged his sensei, swing his sword for optimum damage. Ao calmly dodged Naruto's attacks, sidestepping and ducking the assaults with ease.

"Your gonna have to do better than that." Ao crossed his arms and smiled smugly. Naruto just growled at the man. Since fighting with his sword wasn't helping him, he strapped it on his back and took a fighting stance.

"Let's see you dodge these. Red water style: fin blade jutsu!" Red Water formed around Naruto's forearms and legs, shaping into long, red fins. Naruto charged the man again, actually getting some better results. The fins gave him better range in his attacks, and Ao, not used to blocking a fighting style like this, did his best against the new attack-form. He could dodge most of his punches and kicks, but every now and then he'd get cut by one of the fins.

'Time to get serious'. Ao concentrated chakra into his hands, ready to use the same technique he used to stop Hinata. The first time it struck Naruto's arm, it just made him pause for a second. The nerve attack had little to no effect on the boy's diamond hard skin.

The fight continued, Naruto and Ao at a standstill. Neither were doing much damage to the other. Although Naruto's fins were doing more damage. Ao tried to find an opening in the boy's technique, but that lapse in attention was all Naruto needed to give Ao a fierce left hook to the face.

"Yes! I did it. I finally tagged you!" Naruto did a small victory dance, glad that he was finally done with this stupid game. Sakura and Hinata giggled at him, while Ao just chuckled getting up from the punch. 'Kids got a hell of a fist on him.'

"Hinata it's your turn. Once you're done...we can...oh." he looked excitedly to his other girlfriend, only to remember that her arms were still disabled.

"I-it's alright Naruto-kun. I can still fight. Ah!" She winced trying to move her arms, still damaged. Naruto came over to help her, only to see Ao in his way.

"You remember the rules. You already tagged me, you're done."

"But Hinata-"

"Will have to finish this fight on her own. If a ninja can't carry their own weight once their injured, they're just dead weight." He crossed his arms, assuring his superiority. Naruto was going to argue, but Sakura stopped him. She dragged him away to the tree she was resting on. She assured him it would be alright, Hinata could handle herself.

The meek girl stood from her prone position, staggering on her feet. She tried picking up her swords, only to fail miserably. 'I have to use it. It's the only jutsu that can help me win this'. She concentrated her chakra into her hands, imbuing them with the same lightning that her Kiba used. Her mother taught her how to use jutsu without hand signs, since she couldn't normally use hand signs holding her swords.

She charged at Ao, swinging her arms at him left and right. The uncoordinated attacks were easily dodged by Ao, who was smirking smugly at the girl's pitiful attempts. She combined kicking motions into her attacks, increasing her fighting pattern, but it was still non-effective.

Naruto rised from his seat, hands balled into fists and teeth bared in fangs. Sakura held him back, fighting not to help Hinata herself. "We can't interfere. It's against the rules." That's when Naruto realized something. He smiled, then grinned which soon grew into a full-out laugh.

Sakura just looked at him like he'd gone nuts. He marched towards the two fighting, shocking Sakura.

The fight with Hinata and Ao was interrupted as Naruto's Samehada slashed in front of them and pointed towards Ao. He stood between them, looking his sensei in the eyes definitely.

"What the hell do you think your doing?! I told you weren't supposed to help someone once you had finished. You're going against orders!" Ao glared at him in disguised anger. But inside, he was smirking. He new Hinata was their weak length, disabling her was the main focal point of this exercise. Now comes the lesson.

"Like i give two shits about orders! If one of my teammates are in danger, it's my responsibility to help them. Got a problem with that! Too bad." Naruto grinned triumphantly while Hinata just starred at him with stars in her eyes.

Sakura just looked at him in anger, only to realize what he was doing. She smiled gently when she saw how he put things together. She came to their side, drawing Nuibari, ready to defend her friends.

"So both of you are insubordinates. Do you know what the punishment for not following orders are you sorry excuse for Genin?!" He grilled the group like a drill-sergeant, trying to scare them a little.

"Doesn't matter. If Hinata get's held back, so do we. Were a team, no matter what!" This time it was Sakura who stated their intent, not afraid of the punishment.

Ao glared at the three for a phew more minutes, before he lost control and started laughing.

Naruto and Hinata just looked at him confused, but Sakura knew all too well what was happening.

"Hahaha! Congratulations, you are all officially genin of Kiri." Ao grinned at them proudly.

"Wait...what?" Once again Naruto's brain had snapped. Sakura giggled at his ignorance and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"In battle, there is a chance that one of your teammates will be injured. Your superior officer will tell you that you should leave them to fend them for themselves. But like Naruto said, it's a ninja's duty and responsibility to help their teammates. This test was to see if you would follow orders and fail, or help your teammate and pass. And you did wonderfully."

"So, we passed...we passed! We did it!" Naruto jumped in joy, grabbing both Hinata and Sakura in a bone-crushing hug. The two girls just giggled at happy he was acting and gave a kiss on each cheek.

"Hehehe. Welcome to team 4!" Said Ao proudly to the now official Genin.

They took the standard team picture. It had Ao standing in the back with his arms crossed and a proud grin on his face. Naruto was in the middle, grinning like a shark, an arm around both of his girls. Sakura was leaning against Naruto, winking with a smile and holding up a peace sign. Hinata was blushing slightly, poking her fingers together as she also leaned against Naruto. With that, they were officially registered as team four.

End

The next chapter will focus on the other two team's genin test and introductions to the sensei's. For the characters that didn't have last names, i just used the last name of the Japanese voice actor. This is the longest chapter I've done so far, with the shortest time to post it XD!

Side note: [1] a thresher shark is a shark with a smaller head and long fins. It uses its long fins to stun prey by slapping them with its tail and then comes back around to eat the stunned fish. Its tail fin is actually noted to be as long as its whole body. I'm using this specific shark for Naruto's fighting style because it's sometimes referred to as the 'fox shark'.

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4: Genin Tests

7 Swordsmen from the Leaf  
Ch.4

got some good feedback for this story. Lot's of people seem to like the idea. I've gotten a lot of requests to pair Haku with Naruto. Ill consider it, but i had something else in mind for her.

Anyway, let's get this show on the road!

Start  
Kirigakure (village hidden in the mist)  
Training ground 17

Tenten, Lee and Chojuro arrived at their designated meeting place. It was a large grassy area with a small waterfall coming off a cliff face and into a pond. The three looked around seeing if they could spot their sensei. Chojuro scouted the air to see if he might be in jumping through the forest a few meters away. Lee was too preoccupied, looking at the wide variety of wildlife in the area. Tenten was sitting near the pond, staring at Chojuro.

"Well, you're finally here. About time." They heard a voice above them, from the top of the small waterfall. The owner of the voice jumped down, revealing himself to the three.

He was a tall, thin young man with shoulder length brown hair. A large portion if his bangs covered the left half of his face, but revealed that he pale golden eyes. He wore a long, light blue kimono adorned with a small emblem of three bubbles on the back, and a pair of black pants underneath, with an orange sash. The kimono hung loose, exposing his chest and his almost anorexic figure. He approached the three in a slow walk.

"My name is Utakata Suzumura. I'm the sensei of Team 5, who I assume is you three." He took out a pipe from the sleeve of his kimono and put the tip in his mouth. The three genin looked at him oddly. They were expecting someone more intimidating.

"...well, are you team 5 or aren't you!" The man asked impatiently. 3 small came out the end of his pipe, startling the three.

"Y-yes. Were Team 5 Utakata-sensei." Said Chojuro, not wanting to make the man angry.

Utakata narrowed his eyes at the blue haired boy. "Don't call me sensei. Address me as Utakata or Utakata-san. The title of sensei isn't fit for me." Chojuro was about to ask, but Utakata beat him to it. "Why did i become a sensei? I've recently suffered the loss of a close friend. The Mizukage believes giving me a team will help me ignore that pain." Another three bubbles erupted from the man's pipe, making Tenten's eye twitch.

"Alright, what the hell are you smoking?!" She pointed at the man indigently. Lee and Chojuro looked at her like she was crazy, and Utakata just gave her a sideways glance, not sure what she was talking about.

"Tenten-chan, you shouldn't make accusations that our sensei does drugs - even if he might" even Lee thought this guy was on something, he just didn't seem like he all his marbles. But that doesn't mean you should make a statement like that to your superior officer.

"What? No! I mean 'literally'. What are you smoking that makes bubbles come out instead of smoke? That's just...weird."

Utakata just continued to stare at her blankly, every now and then bubbles receding out of his pipe. "...none of your business." Was his simple reply. Tenten glared at the man for the stupid answer. This guy was really pissing him off.

She turned her nose up at him, crossing her arms and turning away. "Well, bubbles are stupid anyway. Nothing can compare to the excitement of an explosion." She grinned in pride, knowing she was definitely stronger than this weird sensei.

Although none of them noticed, Utakata's eyes narrowed at her statement. He slowly approached the girl at a snail's crawl, scaring the other two to no end. He got within a foot of Tenten and inhaled deeply.

'Water style: Big bubble jutsu' he blew out a large bubble from his pipe that was about the size of someone's head. The bubble slowly floated towards Tenten's face, and then...'pop'.

The bubble exploded with enough force to send Tenten flying several feet back, the soft-grass breaking her fall somewhat. Chojuro ran to her side to see if she was okay. Lee reached for his Kabutowari, incase the man attacked any one of them. He was definitely unpredictable.

"Tenten, are you alright?" Chojuro checked her over too see if she had any major injuries. Her nose was busted from the close impact of the explosion, but other than that she was fine. Getting knocked back like that had knocked her out too, so he had to shake her slightly so she would wake up.

"Ugh, what happened?" She asked groggily. She put a hand to her forehead, wincing when she tried to pick herself up.

"Careful! Utakata hit you with an explosive bubble. It threw you back pretty far. Are you okay?" As soon as Tenten realized Chojuro was worrying over her, she blushed and completely forgot about her broken nose throbbing in pain.

"Oh me? I-I'm fine Chojuro-kun. No need to worry." She waved him off, not wanting to look weak in front of her crush.

Now that he knew he hadn't caused any serious damage, Utakata addressed the girl. "So, what do you think of my bubbles now 'firecracker'." The nickname had been started by the village for the girl after her first few fireworks pranks. Tenten accepted the name with pride, but this wasn't one of those times.

She growled at Utakata. The man just turned his back to the three and let out a weary sigh.

"Maybe you three are just not ready to be Genin." They all looked at their sensei in shock.

"I mean, to you just let someone come up and attack you. That's just idiotic."

"But your our sensei, how were we supposed to know you would attack us?!" Chojuro interjected, trying to defend his team's actions.

"You have no legitimate confirmation of that. I could have been lying to you three this whole time. Hell, I'm not even wearing a Kiri headband; i might not even be from this village." It was true. They couldn't spot where he had his headband, he didn't wear it anywhere on his person.

"I should just send you lot back to the academy. Maybe in a few more years you'll be read-" he was cut off as a kunai whizzed passed his head, snipping a piece of his hair. He looked back to see Tenten, holding out her hand. Probably the one who threw it.

"There's no way were going back to the academy. We've come too far." She glared at Utakata defiantly, Lee and even Chojuro joining her.

"Tenten is right! Let us prove we are worthy enough for the title of Genin." Lee was pumped up for a fight, ready to do anything so he could stay on his team.

"...very well. How about a game?"

"A game? What kind?" asked Chojuro curiously.

"It's simple. Ill use my bubble jutsu until i run out of chakra. You three will have to pop all the bubble before they hit the ground. There is no limit to how you can stop the bubbles or what jutsu or weapons you can use. Understand?"

"Popping bubbles...that's it. Hahaha, you've gotta be kidding me. This is gonna be a piece of cake." Tenten unsealed her Shibuki from a sealing scroll on her hip. The large weapon was too heavy and cumbersome to carry around with her constantly. Lee took out his Kabutowari from under his poncho and Chojuro grabbed some Kunai from his leg pouch.

"Ready...let's begin! Water style: infinite bubble bomb jutsu!" Utakata made a hand sign with one hand and used the other to steady his pipe. Several hundred bubbles came through the receding end, filling up the area quickly. Utakata, not wanting to be caught up in any explosion, jumped up to the top of the waterfall.

Tenten charged in, igniting the explosive tags on her weapon. with a large swing of her sword, a huge explosion enveloped the area. When the smoke cleared, a large portion of the bubbles were gone. But more were still sinking fast.

Lee jumped up to the bubbles still high up in the air. He spun his body, Kabutowari in hand, to create a small whirlwind that wiped out another large chunk of the bubbles. The last few were snuffed out by the shuriken thrown by Chojuro.

As soon as the air was clean of bubbles, Utakata used the infinite bubble jutsu again. This time there were twice as many bubbles filling the air, blocking the three Genin's view of the sky.

The three Genin repeated their actions. Tenten using an explosion to take out the majority of the bubbles, Lee going up to take down the ones in the air, and Chojuro taking care of the leftovers. They continued like this for awhile, Tenten and Lee getting exhausted over the continued use of their swords.

"'Pant' we can't keep this up Tenten." Lee was on barely standing, his advanced stamina letting him last longer. Tenten was on her knees, tossing that sword around took a lot of strength, not to mention the chakra she needed to supply for the explosives.

"Yes...we...can. We...just need...to wait for him...to run out of chakra." Tenten was leaning against a tree, barely even standing. She was panting harshly in-between breaths. Chojuro looked between his teammates and the new round of bubbles and decided to start pulling his own weight.

He adjusted his glasses and jumped up into the air, where he would have optimum range for his attack. "Vibration style: wave pulse jutsu!" Chojuro outstretched his hand, using the other to steady his attack. An invisible force vibrated through the air, eradicating the bubbles completely and heading straight for Utakata.

'Uh-oh'. Utakata quickly jumped away from the attack, unfortunately still getting his foot caught in the wave. It made him trip, causing him to fall to the ground. Thankfully he adjusted his body to land on the water, channeling chakra to his feet to stand on it.

"Well, that was certainly interesting.'Vibration style' is a kinjutsu that is both restricted and banned from use. How can you use that technique, let alone know it?" Utakata narrowed his eyes at the boy.  
The vibration style jutsu emits a wave of energy that can literally make an opponent rip into pieces. More often than not, the user would end up the same. But this boy standing before him had no visible injuries from the jutsu, just exhaustion from using such a chakra-consuming technique.

"You said we could use any jutsu to destroy the bubbles." He said slightly panting, defending his use of the forbidden jutsu.

"And attacking me? A jutsu that powerful would rip right through a forest and still have the strength to kill a bear." Utakata questioned

"You said we could use any method to stop the bubbles. Your chakra seems to be almost limitless, almost as much as Naruto's. The bubble technique only uses a small amount of chakra, but producing that many in one go would take a huge toll on the person. I'm guessing the only way to stop the bubbles from coming is knock you out. Correct?"

Utakata just blew a few bubbles from his pipe, giving him a blank stare. The bubbles were popped by three shuriken that imbedded themselves in the trees. Utakata looked past Chojuro to see that Lee and Tenten had gotten some energy back after some rest.

He stared at them, still confident that they wouldn't pass and he could give them off to another sensei. His thoughts were interrupted by a small hissing sound. He turned back and saw that one of the shuriken had an explosive seal 'carved' into the metal. 'Shit'.

The seal went off; blowing apart the shuriken and the tree it was imbedded into. Utakata acted quickly, incasing himself in a chakra enforced bubble. 'Smart move. Without the tag, i would have never noticed that shuriken had the explosive seal. Very impressive'. He turned back to three, but they had disappeared

He looked all over, but found no evidence of where they could be. He heard a yell, and felt a huge impact on his bubble barrier. He saw that Lee had smashed the hammer end of his Kabutowari against his bubble, making bounce out of place. He looked to where he would collide and saw Chojuro in the waiting, his hands outstretched.

"Vibration style: pulse wall jutsu!" The vibrative force created an invisible barrier that made Utakata bounce off of it...and right back into Lee. The two kept this up for a while, bouncing him like a pinball. He was starting to get dizzy from being bounced around, but if he let up, one of those two would wreck him with their attacks. Speaking of them, were was the girl?

He was starting to get motion sickness from being bounced back and forth, so his concentration on his bubble was breaking. It was becoming deformed, small holes forming. That's the moment when Tenten revealed herself. She was waiting for him, her Shibuki held back like a baseball bat. As soon as his bubble collided, she swung. A huge explosion knocked him back against the waterfall. His kimono had burn marks and large holes where he had taken damage.

He slid down the waterfall, landing in the waterfall with a resounding splash. The three came running to his prone form, seeing if he was seriously injured...well, most of them. Tenten stood over him triumphantly, a smug smile planted firmly on her face.

"How was that Utakata-sensei?" She asked, wanting to hear him admit defeat.

"Don't call me sensei, its Just Utuka-blegh!" He barfed in the pond before he could finish his retort. The three backed up away from the man, not wanting to get picked on.

"So...did we pass?" Asked Lee awkwardly.

He held up a finger, telling them to wait, then "B-blegh!" He barfed again. They waited a few more minutes for him to get over his motion-sickness.

"Are you done already?" Asked Tenten impatiently.

"...yes, i think i- blegh!" The three genin groaned in aggravation and disgust.

"Alright...i think...that was the last one. You three did well. Congratulations, your now officially Genin." He gave them a small smile, proud that they had passed. It didn't have the full effect since he still had a bit of barf on his bottom lip.

The three genin were too excited to tell him, simply cheering in joy. Tenten had, in her excitement, had rapped her arms around Chojuro and hugged him close. Chojuro just looked at her oddly. When she finally realized what she was doing, she pushed him away, saying something about him getting too close while she turned away blushing deeply.

They took the traditional team picture. Utakata in the back, his pipe in his mouth. Lee stood to the left, giving a thumbs up and smiling brightly. Chojuro was in the center, a small smile on his face. Tenten was to the right, an arm around Chojuro and winking at the camera. They were now officially ninja of Kiri.

"How about we get something to eat. To celebrate." Utakata suggested. The other three agreed that game really took a lot of energy out of them.

"Where should we go?" Asked Chojuro curiously

Tenten thought about it, and then remembered their friends. Naruto was probably already done with his test; there was no way he wouldn't pass.

"Let's go to that ramen place. If Naruto, Sakura and Hinata are done, you know they'll go there to celebrate.

"Naruto? Naruto Hoshigaki?" Asked their sensei

Lee nodded vigorously. "Yes, Naruto is one of our close friends. But how do you know of him Utakata-sensei?" Asked Lee.

"I told you not to call me - ugh! Forget it. And I know about Naruto because he and I are alike in some ways. Id like to meet him." Utakata smiled at the three, O. the idea. Tenten impatiently hurried off, Chojuro and Lee barely keeping up with her. Utakata followed, chuckling slightly. 'Naruto, you and I are the only two left now. Maybe i can help you so you don't end up like Yagura'. On that depressing note, Utakata followed his students to the 'ramen place'.

-  
Training ground 23

Kiba, Haku arrived at the spot where they would meet their sensei. It was a large lake near the edge of the village. They searched for their other teammate but found no trace of him.

"Would you let go of me already!" They heard a voice coming from the other end of the lake. They used the water-walking technique taught to them by their Father to see what was going on. They found Shikamaru, but he was head locked by their sensei, who was giving him a noogie.

"Uncle Suigetsu, knock it off!"

"No way! I finally get the chance to show my goody-two shoes brother that my training is better than his. Be glad that you get to learn from the best." Suigetsu noticed the other two staring at him, and stopped his assault on his nephew. He waved to them, still holding Shikamaru in the headlock.

Suigetsu had a similar appearance to his brother, but his hair was pure white with a light blue tint. He had purple eyes and wore a purple, sleeveless shirt and grey pants. He and Mangetsu were like night and day. While Mangetsu was very calm and lighthearted, Suigetsu was impatient, rowdy, and ruthless. His training especially.

Haku giggled at how they were interacting while Kiba just stared at them with a blank look.

Suigetsu let go of Shikamaru, letting him join his teammates. Suigetsu stood and dusted himself off. He looked directly at the three and took on a serious look on his face, something that was rare for the grinning swordsmen.

"Alright, since we already know each other, let's get this show on the road. Now, i would pass you three right now. But unfortunately, i have to 'test your skills' first. So, how about a game of last man standing?" At the last statement, he broke into another fanged grin.

"What?! Against you? But your a Jounin, we can't beat you." Declared Shikamaru, thinking his Uncle was being unfair. Kiba nodded in agreement, certain he'd lose against a monster like Suigetsu.

Suigetsu pouted at how they were acting, but waved off their complaints. "Fine, fine. Ya bunch of babies. Ill cut you a deal. To beat me, all you have to do is make me draw blood. How's that sound?" shikamaru's eyes widened when he realized what Suigetsu was planning. He was about to complain, but Kiba interrupted him.

"Deal! That's easy. We can definitely do this, right sis?" Haku looked at him like he'd signed their deathbed, while Shikamaru just face-palmed at how much of an idiot their teammate was.

Suigetsu was grinning like a shark, chuckling ominously. "Hehehe. Well then, now that we've set the conditions, we can begin." Suigetsu's body melted into water, moving passed the stunned Genin's feet and into the lake.

"Whoa! That was so cool. Hey, Shikamaru, can you do that?" Asked kiba excitedly. Shikamaru just groaned at the boy's stupidity.

"No. Only those with the Hozuki bloodline have an ability like that. I'm adopted, just like you. Remember?" Asked the lazy boy rhetorically. Kiba smiled nervously and apologized.

"Um, maybe we should be paying attention to Suigetsu-sensei." Interjected Haku, trying to stop an argument between the two.

"She's right...you really shouldn't take your eyes off your opponent." They heard the disembodied voice of their sensei ring out through the area. They looked out onto the lake, but couldn't spot him.

Kiba unfastened his Kibikiribocho from his back, ready the large sword for combat. Haku took some senbon from her hip-pouch, and Shikamaru unraveled his own Hiramakarei and channeled it with chakra.

"Good, your prepared...wouldn't want to hit an unarmed target."

"Target? Oh, ill show you a target!" Kiba growled at the voice, annoyed that he didn't take them seriously as opponents.

"I'm sure you will. Water style: multi-water dragon jutsu!" 7 water dragons formed from the base of the lake, charging at the three Genins.

Haku and Kiba jumped into the air for a counter-attack. With two quick swipes of his sword, Kiba decapitated two of the dragons; making them disperse back into water. Haku used her bloodline to freeze the first one that attacked her. Then, sliding down its back, hit the other one with well-placed senbon in the dragon's weak points. Both Momochi siblings landed on the water, readying their weapons for Suigetsu's next assault.

The last three were still heading straight for Shikamaru, who only looked to the dragons with a blank stare. He lifted his sword, which flared with chakra, and made a powerful horizontal slash at the dragons. The gathered chakra from his sword traveled with the force of the attack and cut the dragon's in half.

"Not bad...not bad at all." Suigetsu emerged from the water, his body only half-formed. He had his arms crossed looking at the Momochi siblings with a smug smile.

"Try this on for size. Hozuki style, secret art: water intake jutsu!" Suigetsu's bottom jaw lengthened enough for it to reach under the surface of the lake. Kiba and Haku quickly saw that Suigetsu was inhaling the water of the lake and progressively becoming larger. They were starting sucked in too.

The Momochi siblings ran from the jutsu, afraid they'd get swallowed up two. Unfortunately, running on the surface of the lake was just making them run in place. Suigetsu expanded the length of his jaw again, the rush of the intake increasing by twice it's power. The increase in movement made Haku slip, falling into the water and getting washed away into Suigetsu's mouth. Kiba tried to save her, but ended up falling in too, and then promptly inhaled by Suigetsu. Shikamaru could only look on in horror.

Once he was sure he had secured the two, he stopped inhaling water and stood. By the time he had stopped, half the lake was gone. Once Shikamaru saw his uncle at his full height, he was so afraid he fell back on the ground. Suigetsu was the size of a house now, being in a semi-solid liquid form. His lower jaw bulged with water, and inside his stomach you could see Kiba and Haku, unconscious.

"What are you gonna do now Shikamaru? If you attack me, you risk hurting your friends. Decide quickly, they don't have much air." Suigetsu's distorted voice mocked Shikamaru. The boy stood from his prone position, gripping his sword in aggravation.

'I have to figure out how to get those two out of him. But how?' Shikamaru thought with worry. He went over multiple situations in his head, seeing if he could come up with any good possibilities. He came up with one, but he'd have to reveal the secret he'd been keeping for the last few years.

'Here goes nothing'. Shikamaru charged at the enlarged form of Suigetsu, readying his sword for an attack. Suigetsu tried to hit him with a swipe of one of his large arms, Shikamaru jumping over the arm to avoid the attack. The boy raised his sword overhead and stabbed it into Suigetsu's chest, making sure he avoided hurting Haku and Kiba. The sword, of course, made no damage; it slipped right through Suigetsu's liquid form.

Shikamaru knew that the attack wouldn't cause any damage, but he needed Hiramakarei's special properties to do what he was planning. He created a hand-sign to have his sword channel his chakra into ropes that he forced into Suigetsu's body. The ropes wrapped around Haku & Kiba, encasing them in chakra barriers.

Then, using several different hand seals, he layed his hand on Suigetsu's face. Their sensei had no clue what the boy was planning, and could only watch in curiosity, sure that the boy couldn't hurt him. Finishing the set of hand seals, Shikamaru used the jutsu he'd learned in secret.

"Matter transition Jutsu: liquid to gas!" Suigetsu just looked at him in confusion. He'd never heard of such a jutsu. Although he was clueless of the details of the jutsu, it didn't take long to see the results. His body had started boiling over, causing him extreme pain. His whole body was on fire, but the pain soon faded, and he found himself floating above Shikamaru and the Momochi's.

"Hey, are you two alright?" Asked Shikamaru worriedly. He had made those ropes of chakra so his teammates wouldn't have been affected by his jutsu. He saw that they were visibly fine, just a bit wet. Haku and Kiba stood on the surface of the water, coughing up the quantity built up in their lungs when they were unconscious in Suigetsu.

Kiba coughed to clear his lungs, glad to still be alive. "Yeah, i think so. What the hell happened?" He looked around for Suigetsu, trying to find his sensei so he could beat the man to a bloody pulp for swallowing him and his sister. But he couldn't find any trace of his cruel sensei. All he could see around them was a huge cloud of steam surrounding them.

Shikamaru looked at the steam cloud dully, putting his hands in his pocket. "I had to use my matter transition jutsu to get you guys out of there."

"Matter trans-whatty what jutsu?" Asked Kiba confused. Shikamaru sighed in aggravation, while Haku just giggled at her brother's ignorance.

"Matter 'transition'. It's a jutsu i found when going through the archives." As the lazy boy was explaining, the steam had started to gather into one spot. "It's from an old scroll taken from Iwa (rock). A lot of their jutsu have involved changing the size and weight of matter. I figured i could find a jutsu that could help me imitate the Hozuki bloodline. I guess it paid off." Shikamaru was now facing towards the shape in which the steam had gathered into.

It was a loosely formed version of Suigetsu. The figure made a hand sign, and soon after water from the lake formed around him. After a few seconds, the water had solidified into their sensei, who was grinning viscously at the three genin; Especially Shikamaru.

"Very impressive. I can honestly call you a Hozuki now, Shikamaru. I'm guessing you figured I'd be able to reform my body into water and then back to normal. Right?"

"Actually, i had no idea. I just took a shot in the dark and hoped it worked." Haku, Kiba and Suigetsu just looked at the boy sweat dropping. If that jutsu had gone wrong, they could have all been turned into steam and disappeared into the air.

"We'll, accident or not, you did well. But you two still need to prove yourselves." Suigetsu pointed out to the Momochi siblings in challenge. Kiba got his sword out, ready to deal some payback. Haku readied herself, creating ice on the surface of the water were she stood.

"Fine then, let's go!" Kiba charged at the man like a caveman, swinging his sword at his sensei. And, just like when Shikamaru stabbed his sword into Suigetsu, it passed right through his semi-liquid form. The man just laughed at the boys pitiful attempt. He formed his right hand into a large, liquid butcher sword. He figured he would humor the kid by matching blades with him.

Their swords collided, the two swordsmen fighting for dominance in the fight. Suigetsu had the advantage with his ability to modify the sharpness and density of his water-blade. Kiba tried his best, but had to break away when he knew he couldn't break through his sensei's defense. Haku came charging from behind Kiba, taking advantage of the distraction of the battle.

"Wind style: great breakthrough jutsu!" The attack swept up a huge gust of wind that went straight for Suigetsu. Their sensei was too surprised by the sudden attack to counter it, and got blown back onto the shore of the lake.

"Nice job Haku. If we can get him away from the water, we can decrease his fighting capabilities." Complemented Shikamaru. Haku smiled at the gesture, while Kiba sulked in annoyance to the side.

"So we can't hit him with water jutsu, which eliminates most of our jutsu. And we can't use physical attacks since they'll go right through him. Is that about right?" Asked Kiba sarcastically.

Shikamaru and Haku nodded in sync, depressed that they were in such a hopeless situation.

"Haku can use wind style jutsu, that's an advantage." Shikamaru pointed out.

"I can use a few earth style, but not that many. Hey! What about that jutsu you used to free us?" Asked Kiba, adding in his two cents.

Shikamaru shook his head negatively. "No, using that jutsu against a human is too dangerous. I figured a Hozuki would be the only person able to put them selves back together after being turned into steam. That was the only reason i used it against Hozuki sensei, unless..." Shikamaru adopted a thinking pose.

"I know that look. You've got a plan, right!" Asked Haku excitedly.

"...maybe, but it's risky. It'll be my first time using it in battle. I need you two to distract him, ill handle it from there." Haku nodded in confirmation, while Kiba just looked off to the side, annoyed that he had been left out of the loop again.

Shikamaru made a hand sign, concentrating and focusing his chakra so he wouldn't mess up this jutsu. While he was doing that, Haku and Kiba approached Suigetsu, who was waiting for them on the shore.

"Finally ready, huh? Well, let's see what you got?!" Suigetsu formed both his arms into water blades, expecting Kiba to try and clash swords with him again and then Haku sneaking in an attack like last time. What he didn't expect was for Kiba to use his sword to make a shockwave that created a wave, and then Haku using her bloodline to freeze that wave so it came rushing for Suigetsu like a freight train.

He turned his body to water at the moment of impact, but still got splashed against the ground when the frozen wave slammed into him. It was too large to move through his body, so all he did was lessen the damage. Once he turned back, he had a difficult time moving the heavy slam of ice of his body. He shifted mass from to his arms so he could get enough strength to finally lift the huge slab of ice off of him.

He quickly assessed the situation, looking for the Momochi siblings. They were gone from their original position, obviously, but he still couldn't find any trace of then. He heard the call of a jutsu and looked up to see a ball of water coming directly at him. With a smug smile, he gladly took the high velocity ball of water into his body, absorbing it.

"I thought you would have learned that water doesn't hurt me, it just makes me stronger!" To emphasize his point, he made another water blade from his hand which bore a striking resemblance to Kibikiribocho.

The Momochi sibling appeared from their positions, determined looks on their faces. Their sensei charged at the two, making them separate to avoid the attack. Kiba tried to hit him while his back was turned, but Suigetsu quickly countered. Once again, they were in a battle of blades, fighting for dominance.

Haku used the distraction to make her move. "Ice style: frozen wind jutsu!" Breathing out a huge blast of cold air, Haku used her bloodline to freeze Suigetsu in place. Thankfully, Suigetsu blocked Kiba from the jutsu so he wasn't hit as well. Suigetsu looked back the girl with a viscous smile on his face.

"Is that the best ya got rookie? I can slip out of this easy!" Suigetsu used his bloodline to turn his body to water so he could escape. Unfortunately he didn't get the chance.

Just as he was turning completely to water, two arms emerged from his torso, disturbing everyone greatly.

The arms formed a familiar set of hand seals, and a gargled voice spoke out from Suigetsu's semi-liquid body.

"Matter transition jutsu: liquid to solid!" Suigetsu's eyes widened when he heard that. His body instantly turned back to human. he tried changing back, but the jutsu in place would just revert him back.

"Kiba, hurry! I can't hold him in this form for long." The gargled voice spoke out from inside Suigetsu. Kiba grinned in victory. He readied his blade and swung, being careful not to damage Suigetsu's torso. The slash gave his arm a huge gash, penetrating deeply and causing his arm to bleed profusely.

"Yes! We won! Eat that Suigetsu-sensei." Kiba was dancing in victory, glad to have beaten their demon of a sensei. Haku approached Suigetsu to pull on the arms still disturbingly extending out of their sensei's torso. With one final tug, she pulled out Shikamaru who was coughing up water.

"Wh-what the hell! How'd you get into my body, you weren't even in that figh-!" Suigetsu was outraged at how he didn't notice Shikamaru in him, when he realized the moment he probably entered into his body. That water ball! Why would they use a weak jutsu like that when they already knew he could absorb any water attack?

Still coughing up water, Shikamaru saw the awestruck look on his uncle's face, signaling he had figured out what happened. "Gotchta didn't I. I used my matter transition jutsu to turn myself into water, and then had Haku attack you with me, making it look like a jutsu. I knew you'd be too proud to dodge, so you just absorbed me. When Haku trapped you in the ice, i made my move and used that same jutsu to make you solid long enough for Kiba to cut you." Shikamaru smirked at their sensei, who was being bandaged by Haku.

Suigetsu just grinned in joy. "Hahaha! Yep, you definitely got me kid. I can already tell you guys are gonna be one hell of a team."

"Wait" Kiba interjected. "If you used that matter whatever jutsu to make him solid while you were still inside, wouldn't you guys have been fused together or something?" He asked confused.

Shikamaru just shook his head, smirking at his friend's ignorance. "No. I used Hiramakarei so my chakra would be separate from his. It was a long shot tactic, but I'm sure dad will be proud i finally beat you."

Suigetsu grew a bit annoyed on that sour note. He hated when his brother tried to one-up him, and he never heard the end of how proud he was of Shikamaru.

"Don't get too cocky. You didn't beat me by yourself after all. A ninja needs teammates, even i know that." Said Suigetsu, kindly smiling at Haku who was still repairing his arm. Although almost unnoticeable, she still blushed a bit at the complement.

"Yeah, i guess your right." Shikamaru looked off in the distance. He was thinking about how truly right he was. Haku's bloodline froze Suigetsu in place so Kiba wouldn't miss his chance, and Kiba was the backbone of their team. While He wasn't as intelligent as him and Haku he was physically the strongest of them. Plus, he was the only one who could match Suigetsu in a sword battle.

Suigetsu got up, arm now fully bandaged. He stretched his body, enjoying the workout his student's gave him. "Alright, how about we go celebrate."

Haku remembered that Naruto would probably already be finished with his test, so he would go to that ramen place to celebrate. Chojuro, Lee and Tenten would figure that out too and go there, so it seemed like the ideal meeting spot for them all. She told her suggestion to her team, who liked the idea.

Before he forgot, Suigetsu had them do their customary team photo. Suigetsu was in the back, giving a headlock to Kiba and Shikamaru standing to the sides. Haku was in the center, her serene smile still in place. After their photo, the four were off to see how their friends had endured and tell their own adventure.

End

just finishing up the Jounin introductions and Genin tests for this chapter. Next one will have a little more development. If you can't tell, I've made Tenten and Shikamaru the unofficial leaders of their teams. Tell me how you like this one.

P.S.  
I might be taking a small break from this story to focus on another one that i haven't focused on in a while.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5: One step closer

7 Swordsmen from the Leaf  
Ch.5

Moving on in the story. Now that I'm through with most of the introductions, the story will lead into missions. Mostly smaller ones, until i get to the big mission to wave and then the Chunin exams. The original story will alter quite a bit, but not by much.

Start

Jangara Ramen shop

After finishing their Genin tests, team 4 went to the best place in the village to get ramen, the Jangara ramen shop. Naruto's father only allowed him to eat the delectable dish on special occasions. This definitely counted. They asked their new sensei to come celebrate with them, but he said he had other business and left them to eat without him.

"Naruto-kun! Stop eating so fast! How can you even enjoy it if you don't bother to taste it?" Hinata complained to her boyfriend who was slurping down ramen at mach speed. Hinata fretted over him, sitting on his right. Sakura, sitting to his left, just shook her head in amusement, knowing this would happen.

"Leave him alone Hinata. Even if we could stop him, why spoil his fun? We're finally ninja, let's enjoy it." Sakura grinned over at the other girl, who only gave her a meek smile in return.

"Hey! Sakura, Naruto, Hinata! You guys passed." They heard a loud voice from a few feet away. All but Naruto, who was too pre-occupied eating, turned to see that Kiba and his team were heading towards them excitedly.

Naruto took a break from inhaling his food long enough to comment. "'Course we did. That test was a piece of cake! I'm a little surprised you guys made it though. I guess poor Haku-chan had to pull you two along just to pass." He turned to give the girl a sideways grin. Haku looked away a small smile on her blushing face. Kiba just growled at Naruto for simultaneously hitting on his sister and insulting him. Shikamaru just took a seat, ignoring the actions going on around them.

Sakura and Hinata looked to each other, noticing how Haku reacted. They knew Naruto had a knack for charming girls without even realizing. Hopefully, this was just a bit of harmless flirting.

"So, you three passed your test. No shock there. Hey, where's your sensei? I wanted to meet him." Suigetsu questioned, taking a seat at the stand and making some orders for his team.

"W-we asked Ao-sensei if he wanted to eat with us, but he said he wanted to talk with the Mizukage about something." Answered Hinata, who was eyeing Haku cautiously. She noticed that the girl kept giving Naruto small glances, turning away before she could be caught.

"Ao? Ao Saizen? That guy was a famous veteran from the last war. You guys are pretty lucky to have him as a sensei." Commented Suigetsu, eating some beef ramen.

A droll voice spoke up from behind them. "Yes. Ao served as a great soldier in the last war. His teaching will be a privilege to any ninja he trains."

The seven turned to see Tenten, Chojuro, Lee and a tall, lanky man in a kimono.

"Great! The whole group made it to Genin level. Hey Tenten, who's that guy behind you?" Asked Naruto, looking at the tall man in interest. This guy gave off a weird vibe, Kyuubi sensed it too.

'Kurama, is this guy?' Naruto mentally forwarded the question to his tenant, the nine-tailed Kyuubi.

'Yes. He's like you.' Replied the fox.

Naruto got up from his stool to look at the man directly. In return, the tall man outstretched his hand to the boy. Naruto returned the hand-shake firmly.

"My name is Utakata Suzamura. You must be Naruto Hoshigaki. I've heard many stories about your strength. Several people believe you could have made rookie of the year if your scholastic grades were better." Naruto pouted a bit at that fact, while the most of the others laughed at his lack of know-how.

Haku was the one named rookie of the year. In Mizu they didn't choose one for male class and one for female class. Haku, being superior in both skill and knowledge was named the best in their class, even when everybody knew Naruto could take her down easily.

Utakata continued on. "9 people in particular have praised your skills in great appreciation." He emphasized the 'nine', making Naruto's eyes go wide in realization.

Naruto grinned at the praise, putting his hands behind the back of his head. "Really. I've never heard of you. How many teams have you trained before Tenten, Chojuro and Lee." Asked Naruto, trying to specifically ask which Bijuu this man contained.

Utakata looked behind him to his team, who was looking at the man in interest. They were probably wondering why he was so talkative with someone he just met.

"Maybe we should talk in private. I'm sure my team wishes to share their joy of graduating with their friends." Utakata put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, leading him to a corner around the building. They others looked at them leaving oddly, but soon lost interest.

Once the two were sure that they were alone and unseen, they faced each other with serious expressions.

"So?" Asked Naruto. "Which Bijuu do you have in you?"

Utakata smirked at the boy and held out a fist to him. Naruto just looked at the fist in confusion. Utakata saw his confusion and elaborated. "This is a way to show each other our Bijuu. I learned it from another Jinchuuriki a while ago. Just bump my fist with yours." Naruto nodded and hesitantly touched his own outstretched fist to the taller man's.

Bijuu void (which is the name I'm giving to the empty space where one Bijuu and Jinchuuriki pair can communicate with another)

Naruto and Utakata appeared in a huge, empty white space. They were not alone though. Both parties were sitting on top of humongous creatures, their Bijuu. Naruto sat atop the head of a huge, red-furred fox with viscous fangs and claws. It had nine bushy, swaying tails and an aura of dread coming off of it.

Utakata was sitting on what appeared to be a gigantic, bipedal slug. It had white skin with a slight, bluish tint and a slime oozing out of all parts of it's body. The creature's stubby arms and legs made it look more ludicrous than intimidating. It had six, slimy tails wagging back and forth slowly.

When the slug caught site of the nine-tailed fox, it cheered up and spoke out to the fox in a high-pitched, maniacal voice. "Kyuubi-Sama! Kyuubi-Sama! Saiken is so happy to see you again." The creature started buying in place, it's large mass making the ground shake beneath it's feet.

The fox smiled in amusement at the slug's immature excitement. "Yes, yes, Saiken. It's good to see you as well. Now then, since we already know each other, let's introduce our tenants.

The slug, known as Saiken, nodded his head energetically, almost making Utakata fall off.

"Of course, excuse my rudeness Kyuubi-Sama. This is my Jinchuuriki, Utakata Suzamura. He has been very kind to me, much nicer than my past containers. In return, I've made him much stronger than most of the ninja of this village." Saiken replied.

Kyuubi nodded in acceptance. It was not uncommon for Bijuu to trade their tenants training in exchange for positive treatment from them. "Nice to meet you Utakata. Saiken, this is my container. His name is Naruto Hoshigaki, and he has grown to be a valued ally to me. I have rewarded his ruthless fighting tactic with a power boost from my chakra. Such a bloodthirsty youth, deserves great power to protect those close to him." Naruto grinned in response to Kyuubi's praise of him, showing off his sharpened teeth.

Utakata took this moment to speak up and interrupt the two. "Kyuubi-san, perhaps it would be better if we talked face-to-face with each other's partner." Kyuubi thought it over in his head for awhile, before nodding in agreement. Naruto and Utakata jumped from his position and walked towards the opposing Bijuu. They glanced at each other while passing, but said nothing.

Once Utakata was close enough to Kyuubi, he felt the dark, bloodthirsty aura rolling off the beast in waves. It was enough to make his knees shake and made him almost fall over completely. Kyuubi chuckled in amusement at Utakata's reaction to his dark chakra. As far as he had witnessed, only his fellow Bijuu, his fist container and Naruto were immune to his aura.

Once the tall man was face-to-face with the nine-tailed fox, he bowed deeply to the creature. "Kyuubi-San, it is an honor to meet you. Saiken has spoken much of his brothers and sisters, but none more than you." Kyuubi just looked at the man dully. Praise or fear is the only thing ever given to him by the humans, this one was no different.

"Naruto is out of hearing-range, so please say what's on your mind. What did you wish to ask me?" Asked Kyuubi, narrowing his eyes at the man.

Utakata nodded in confirmation and continued on. "Thank you. I'm sure your aware that a phew months ago our former Mizukage was killed and his own Bijuu released." Kyuubi nodded, knowing the information from his link with Naruto.

"Tell me. Do you know where the three-tails is? He escaped the village before we had a chance to re-seal him."

Kyuubi turned up his nose to the question, annoyed by the audacity of it. "No. Isobu has not made contact with me, but even if he did; what makes you think I'd tell you. As it stands now, he is the only one of us free."

Utakata sighed, knowing that Kyuubi wouldn't have a positive response to his question. Hopefully, his next one would catch his attention. "Very well. My next question; do you know of any jutsu that would allow someone the ability to take control of a Bijuu, and by extension, their Jinchuuriki?"

Kyuubi's eyes widened in surprise and anger. He stomped one of his massive paws on the ground, just missing Utakata by a couple of feet. Kyuubi brought his head down to the tall man's line of sight to glare at him menacingly.

"The Sharingan!? An Uchiha dares to manipulate another of our kin? I'll kill him. We'll, Naruto will, but you get the point!" Utakata was surprised of the fox's outburst. He knew of the Sharingan, but not that it's power could bend a Bijuu to it's will.

"The Sharingan? I wasn't aware it had that kind of power. Is it possible that someone manipulated Yagura using this technique?" Utakata had deep suspicions about Yagura suddenly calling a bloodline purge, and the strange way he'd been acting before that.

"Possible? Id bet three of my tails on it. Another Uchiha has unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan, and used it on your fellow Jinchuuriki."

"Mangekyou?" Asked Utakata confused.

"It's the second level of the Sharingan. The first and only person who has ever obtained it was Madara Uchiha. But i guess that's not the case anymore. The Mangekyou is only unlocked when someone kills their best friend." Depressed at this news, Kyuubi turned away from Utakata and hung his head.

"How do you know this? If Madara was the only person to ever use it until know, there would be no record."

"Because...i gave the Uchiha their Sharingan, and i was the first Bijuu manipulated by Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan." Utakata looked at the creature in shock. People always believed that the Sharingan was a mutation, or something passed down to the descendents of the sage of the six paths.

"Madara took control of me to aid him in fights with the first Hokage of the Leaf village. And just a few years ago, i was again taken control of to attack the leaf village. Thankfully, the fourth Hokage stopped me, but had to seal me within Naruto."

"A few years ago? Wait! You mean Madara is still alive? He would be too old and decrepit, definitely not powerful enough to use such a jutsu on you again." Utakata stated.

"No...He acted like Madara, but it wasn't him. Just a fool posing as a demon. The real Madara would have crushed the Hokage before destroying the village. The one who was pulling Yagura's strings must be the same man who manipulated me." Kyuubi was deep in thought on this, as was Utakata.

They heard a cheer from behind them and turned to see Naruto sliding down Saiken's slimy back like a huge slide. They both smirked in amusement. "Perhaps we should discuss this at another time. Be cautious, this man is dangerous and could take control of any of us." Kyuubi commented.

"Agreed." Utakata nodded and went to approach his own Bijuu so they could go back to their own world. "Utakata!" He heard Kyuubi yell out to him, and turned to face him.

"Be wary of the man with the swirled, orange mask. That is all i can recall of him." Utakata thanked the fox for his advice and went to go separate Naruto from his Bijuu.

'Yagura, have peace my friend. You will be avenged and have your name cleared. I promise you'. These were Utakata's hope full thoughts, unknowingly starting his descent into a path of hardship, strife, and death to help his fallen friend.

-

Mizukage's office

'Ugh! Paperwork again.' The new Mizukage, Mei Momochi (try saying that three times fast) was busy working on the piles of paperwork that needed her approval or denial. Normally, it wasn't so bad, but with the new batch of Genin's, the number had doubled. The woman wished she had something to distract her, if only for a moment.

'Knock, knock' was the sound that came from the large door of her office. Saved by the bell. An anbu opened the door a crack to speak to her. "Mizukage-Sama. Ao Saizen, of team 4 wishes to speak with you about one Naruto Hoshigaki. Will you see him?"

She nodded in confirmation, making the Anbu open the door fully to let the older ninja through the door. The door closed, leaving the two in silence. Mei motioned to the seat in front of her desk, letting Ao sit so he could speak to her.

"How can I help you Ao. You have questions about Naruto?" She asked curiously.

Ao nodded affirmatively. "Yes. Most importantly, i wish to know why his water jutsu turns red. I know some jutsu have abnormalities unique to the user, but this goes beyond that." He narrowed his one good eye at the woman, trying to intimidate her. She just smiled t him, but it wasn't exactly a caring smile. He got the feeling of dread by looking at her, and it scared him.

"Before i tell you, i need to confirm your placement as Naruto's permanent sensei. The explanation of his red-water entails an s-class secret, understand?" Her smile faded, and she looked at the man menacingly.

Ao nodded shakily, partly because he had no issues with the team he was assigned, and partly because this woman frightened him to death.

She smiled again, this time he was sure it was one of kindness. "Naruto is a Jinchuuriki. He has formed a close bond with his Bijuu, and in return it has given Naruto a chakra boost. Because of the malicious nature of the chakra, it turns the color of it blood red. This doesn't just go with water style either, it would affect other jutsu as well. As we've seen, the chakra has no affect on Naruto physiologically or physically, so we've ignored it. I trust you'll keep this a secret." In an instant, her smile turned malicious and Ao could only nod in sheer terror.

Ao stood from his seat ready to leave. He had gotten an acceptable answer and would keep the information to himself. He had no issue with Jinchuuriki, they were valuable weapons and should be treated with respect. At least that's what the soldier in him reasoned. Naruto was a good kid and a skilled shinobi, the fact that a Bijuu lived inside his stomach did nothing to alter those two facts.

"Do Sakura and Hinata know about it?" He questioned before leaving.

"Yes. Both them, as well as teams 5 and 6 know of Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki. The seven swordsmen unit, Suigetsu Hozuki and myself are the only other people that know."

Ao arched an eyebrow at that bit of information. "That many people? isn't that dangerous. Especially having such young ninja know a village secret like that."

She giggled at his comment, amused. "It's not a concern. We like to think of ourselves as one big family. And family's really shouldn't keep secrets from one another. I know, you being one of the veterans of the war, have a different opinion. But i hope you and Utakata will join our family." She gave him one last caring smile, before returning to her paperwork.

Ao looked back at her for a few seconds, contemplating what she said. He turned back to the door and left without a word.

-

Jangara Ramen Shop

Naruto and Utakata arrived back at the ramen place, with an agreement to have Utakata give Naruto some Jinchuuriki techniques and tips later on in the week. They saw that the rest of the teams were talking amongst themselves, probably about their separate Genin tests.

Naruto went to go join his team, just as Ao arrived. He, Sakura and Hinata introduced the veteran to their other friends as well as Suigetsu. He already knew Utakata, apparently, which is probably why Utakata gave Ao that complement when he arrived there.

Utakata was introduced to Suigetsu as well. By appearance and personality, the two were complete opposites. Even more so than Suigetsu and his brother. Eventually, Suigetsu got annoyed at Utakata's laid back attitude and tried to fight him. His team had to hold him back, and left the other two teams so their sensei could calm down.

Utakata didn't really like the food there, which outraged Naruto. Jinchuuriki or not, there was something wrong with this guy if he didn't like ramen. He left to go home, as did team 6. Naruto ate one more bowl of the delicious ramen before leaving as well, walking both Sakura and Hinata home. Ao stayed behind, still thinking about what the Mizukage had said to him.

"Will you be ordering anything sir?" The shop owner asked him nervously. Ao was used to people being afraid around him due to his eye-patch.

"...one shrimp ramen." The owner nodded in confirmation and started working.

"Some kids, huh? Any of them yours?" Asked the owner, trying to make conversation and break up the tension.

Ao smirked "Hm! yes...and no." The owner just looked at him curiously, but simply shrugged and continued on with his preparation.

Ao sat there for awhile. He was mostly chosen for that team to train the Hyuuga girl in how to use her Byakuugan. But Naruto was the one that interested him the most. The boy attacked him head on in his test, knowing that he couldn't win against a practiced Jounin. Then, when he stood up to protect the girl. He was told the consequences, and even in his ignorance of the real lesson of his test, still made an effort to protect her. He was definitely an interesting one.

He had a feeling, this new batch of Genin was going to be the best of it's generation. His time had passed, it was time to pass on the torch to a new generation.

His ramen hit the counter top, breaking his focus. He was rather hungry now that he thought about it. Dealing with those brats gave him quite an apatite. He ate in silence, contemplating his new team.

-  
With team 4

Naruto, Hinata and Sakura had been walking for few minutes before they reached their first destination. Hinata's home stood before them, a basic two-story house that fit a family of four. They saw Shikamaru, standing at the door and tapping his foot impatiently and waiting for his step-sister.

Hinata, seeing Shikamaru's annoyance gave Naruto a quick peck on the cheek and Sakura a hug before parting ways with them. She waved goodbye as they left for Sakura's house. Shikamaru waved goodbye as well, but not quite as enthusiastically.

Opening the door for her, Shikamaru gestured for her to enter, a slight smile on his face. Hinata stepped in giving a quite thank you to him for holding the door open for her, an excited grin showing on her own face.

"Mom, Dad! Were home!" Shikamaru called out in the living room of the house, looking for any signs of his father or Hinata's mother. The two-step sibling looked back at each other in question when no response rang. Maybe they weren't home.

"Damn it Mangetsu, you freaking idiot!" Ameyuri's rage-filled outcry came from the second floor, and a second later, Mangetsu came tumbling down the stairs. The man landed at the base of the steps, upside down with stars circling his head. Seconds later, he righted himself, shaking his head from the dizziness caused by his descent and rubbing the swollen mark on his cheek.

Mangetsu looked around the room, trying to get his barring after being punched by Ameyuri for a stupid comment he let slip. He saw Shikamaru in front of him, his arms crossed and a smug smirk tugging at his lips. Hinata, beside him, was cupping her mouth with her hands, trying to keep in her laughs. Mangetsu narrowed his eyes at them, but kept a smirk in place, irked at his children's amusement.

"So...how'd you do?"

"How do you think? Uncle Suingetsu literally almost killed my teammates. But, we passed nonetheless." Answered Shikamaru non-cholantly, looking away and trying to look like he wasn't excited about passing.

Hinata was much more honest with her answer. "It was great! Our sensei set up this really cool team-exercise, and Naruto-Kun and Sakura-Chan stood up to help me even though they thought it would mean they would fail."

Mangetsu smiled in joy, grateful that he had such skilled children... and that his brother hadn't killed Shikamaru and his teammates.

"Fantastic! We'll have to celebrate. Hinata, why don't you tell your mother the great news?" He motioned up the stairs with a strained smile. Hinata and Shikamaru smirked in amusement. They knew that was code for, 'your mother is still angry with me, please try and calm her down?!'. Hinata gave her father a large hug, then ran up the stair way, giggling in joy the whole way.

Mangetsu and Shikamaru waited a few minutes to make sure the girls of the house were out of ear-shot.

"So, I'm guessing Uncle Suigetsu told you about my new jutsu." Shikamaru with an even tone, afraid of his father's reaction to him learning something like the matter-transition jutsu.

Mangetsu looked back at his son in amusement and nodded slightly. "Yeah...he told me. But, it's not the firs time hearing about it."

"You knew?" Shikamaru just looked at his father, confused. Mangetsu, seeing this, chose to clarify.

"I knew about this jutsu you've been learning for a phew years now. I just thought it'd be best when you were ready to tell me about it. It's a very impressive jutsu..."

Shikamaru smirked with pride, reminding Mangetsu of his brother when they were younger.

"...Not that your mother and I approve of you using it." Mangetsu chose to re-asert his disapproval of such a dangerous Jutsu.

"What?! Why not?"

"While it is a very versatile jutsu, it relies on extremely precise amounts of chakra. One mistake and you or anybody you use it on could never return to their original state. That's why I'm forbidding you from using it until you reach Chunin rank, understood?" Mangetsu looked sternly at Shikamaru, making no room for arguments.

"'Sigh', fine. I won't use the matter-transition jutsu anymore." Shikamaru obeyed his father's orders solemly, annoyed that he wasn't allowed to use the jutsu he'd trained years on.

"Good. Besides, who needs that rip-off when you can use our Kekkai Genkai." As he was talking, Mangetsu pulled something from his back pocket.

It was at that point that Shikamaru got furious. "The only reason I learned that stupid jutsu is because I can't use the Hoshigaki Kekkai Genkai you -?" Shikamaru had to stop mid-sentence when he saw the item Mangetsu had pulled from his pocket. It was a medium sized kunai with strange symbols carved into the sides. The center of the blade a large blue marble with gold lines leading from it and throughout the kunai like veins. Shikamaru had seen the object only once in his life; on Naruto's 7th birthday, when the blonde's father used said Kunai to transfer Kisame's shark-skin bloodline to Naruto.

"I-is that what I think it is?" Shikamaru hesitantly, grateful that this day had finally come.

"You bet, This is the best kept secret of the mist village. The Ryuuketsu Blade, made from the same metal as the seven swords of the mist. It has properties that allows it to transfer a bloodline from one person to another." Mangetsu looked to his son to see if he understood him well enough. Shikamaru was completely focused on Mangetsu and the kunai.

Seeing that his lazy son was paying attention, he continued.  
"It's only to be used in cases of extreme duress, like the last few wars. Naruto was a special case since he's a Jinchuuriki, but your mother and I have pulled a few strings."

"So, you mean?" Shikamaru left the question open, not sure if he should push his luck.

"Yep! I'm giving you access to the Hoshigaki bloodline." Mangetsu waited for a reaction from the boy, nervous when he saw his son tense up and look at the ground ominously.

He got completely blind-sided when Shikamaru gave him a bone-crushing hug, tears threatening to slip from his eyes. It took a few seconds for Mangetsu to catch up with what happened, his son not usually one to show his emotions other than through sarcasm. Eventually, he hugged him back, glad that Shikamaru was happy with his graduation gift.

Mangetsu separated himself from the contact, looking at Shikamaru with pride and grabbing him by the shoulders. "I'm proud of you Shikamaru. I hope you carry on the Hoshigaki name with pride; cause if you don't, my brother just gonna do something stupid to fuck it up."

The two shared a laugh at Suigetsu's expense. Hearing the girls starting to come down stairs, Mangetsu thought quickly. "How about we do the ceremony after dinner, keep it a surprise for Hinata and your mother, alright." Mangetsu smiled hopefully, knowing that Ameyuri would be pissed if she found out about Mangetsu's decision to use the bloodline transfer ceremony without her OK.

Shikamaru just shook his head in amusement, smirking slightly. That was his dad alright. He sighed, but agreed nonetheless. "Fine. But you know she's gonna chew you out when you have to tell her."

Mangetsu drooped his head down, depressed at how right his son was. But his decision was made; Shikamaru would carry on both the Hoshigaki name and their sacred bloodline. His wife be damned.

Mangetsu would later regret this decision as it led to him sleeping on the couch for 2 weeks and no sex for 3.

-  
Scene change: with Naruto and Sakura

After dropping Hinata off at her home, Naruto and Sakura headed for the pinkett's home. The way there was mostly quiet with just a few comments between them and an occasional awkward glance. Usually Hinata was with them, so despite Naruto and Sakura being in a relationship they didn't talk much when it was just the two of them.

It was the same when Hinata was alone with Naruto; the girl was to shy when it was just the two of them, but when Sakura was around, it made her feel more comfortable and she could speak freely.

Sakura liked having these moments alone with Naruto to try and increase the level of their relationship in small intervals. Since Naruto always had to split his time between two girlfriends, the time it took to reach new levels of intimacy slowed significantly. Add in how shy and insecure Hinata was, that increase slowed to a crawl. When it was just the two of them, she always tried to find new ways to up the ante.

Last time they were alone like this, she cornered the blonde and attempted a make out. It went well until she tried to add tongue; that's when the Jinchuuriki freaked out, inadvertently pushed her away from him and ran for the hills.

Naruto was extremely inexperienced and knew nothing about relationships other than what he saw in adds and in TV. His father rarely ever went out on dates and he had no mother, biological or otherwise to turn to for advice on love. Whenever Sakura made these little advances, it always freaked him out. Because of his inexperience, when he was alone with Sakura he tried to keep as much space between them without offending her so she couldn't make another attempt like last time.

Sakura took a side-glance at the nervous blonde and slowly ebbed her way closer to him. Naruto was still theorizing of what she could be planning of this time, he didn't even notice her sliding next to him. Sakura, seeing that she wasn't being noticed, slowly slipped her hand into his. Naruto flinched for a second, but eventually returned the gesture, smiling nervously at the pink-haired girl.

Naruto let out a relaxed sigh, seeing as how Sakura was easing up a little this time. Sakura showed a small, sad smile, depressed with the current status. She knew this was probably the best she could hope for at the moment. Hopefully, now that they were ninja and would be going on missions outside the village, she could move the situation along during extended missions. Visions popped up in her head as she went through scenarios she read of in an orange book she found one day doing her father's laundry.

Naruto got a little disturbed at how Sakura was acting. She had a slight red on her cheeks and was giggling perversely, like an old man. He relaxed when she stopped to let out a content sigh and she laid her head against his shoulder. Naruto looked back in front of them to see how much farther they had to go, but was surprised to find they had already arrived at the girl's house.

"Um, Sakura? Were here" he gripped her hand tighter to wake her up from whatever day-dream she was having.

"Wha?" The girl was so deep in thought; she didn't even notice that they had already made it to her front door. She pouted and removed herself from the blonde's side to stand in front of him.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, smiling nervously. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the training ground." He moved in to giver her a peck on the cheek, but Sakura would have none of that. She forced his head to face her and kissed him directly. Naruto freaked out at first, but eventually surrendered to her and kissed back as much ad he was willing. Sakura, seeing that he wasn't retreating, deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Just when Naruto put his hands on her sides, a sure sign he was about to deepen the kiss, the heard someone clearing their throat not even three feet from them.

"Am I interrupting?" Naruto and Sakura awkwardly separated to look at who was speaking. It was Kushimaru, crossing his arms angrily and tapping his foot impatiently. Naruto, seeing who it was, jumped from his position next to Sakura so he was several feet away from her. Naruto did not want to piss off his girlfriend's dad, especially when that dad was a seven swordsmen that excelled in torture and killing.

Naruto chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head, not sure what to do.  
"Um, Kushimaru-san, how nice to see you again." The blonde tried to play it off, but seeing that Kushimaru's stance hadn't changed, knew he failed. He bowed several times, apologizing profusely. Kushimaru sighed, seeing as how Naruto wasn't the one responsible for what he saw earlier. He looked over to an irate Sakura, who was pouting like a child; probably upset that she had been interrupted.

"It's alright Naruto. Why don't you head home, I'm sure your father can't wait to congratulate you on becoming a genin." Naruto, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, nodded without hesitation. He gave Sakura a quick as lightning peck on the cheek and high-tailed it outa there. Sakura cheered up a little at that last bit of contact, but quickly deflated. She stomped into the house, her father walking behind her, shaking his head dejectedly. What was he going to do with her?

-  
(Back with Naruto)

The blonde had slowed down after running a few blocks from Sakura's, not wanting to look like a nut case. Right now he was just strolling along, day-dreaming about all the cool missions he'd do now that he was an official ninja of the mist. His toothy grin appeared when he spotted his house in the distance, he couldn't wait to get home. His grin soon turned to confusion when he noticed someone standing outside the door to his house.

The number 1 rookie of his class, the beautiful and talented Haku Momochi was standing at the entrance of his house. When he spotted her, she was holding a large picnic basket with both hands, looking down at the basket nervously. He saw her look up a second later, noticing him walking closer to the house. She grinned excitedly, her face a light red, as she waved at him from a distance.

Naruto grinned and waved back. His only thoughts were, 'I wonder why she's here?'

End

Finally! Sorry it took so long to update, I'll try and make it faster the next chapter.

Not a lot in this one, just building a few plot-points and adding on to Naruto's relationship with Sakura and Hinata. Till next time!

Please review and comment.


End file.
